Voters in seven Los Angeles City Council districts went to the polls Tuesday to decide who will win outright and who will advance to a runoff in a series of races that could reshape City Hall.
Thirty-one candidates were competing in contests that will help determine the future of the city's fight against homelessness, its approach to policing and public safety, and its continued efforts to make housing more affordable, particularly for renters. from the city.
Six of the seven races feature incumbents seeking a four-year term.
On the east side, Councilman Kevin de León hoped to fend off seven challengers, including state Assemblymembers Miguel Santiago and Wendy Carrillo, both Democrats, and tenants' rights attorney Ysabel Jurado.
De León, a former state legislator, has been trying to make a comeback after being at the center of a scandal over a secretly recorded conversation with former colleagues that included racist and derogatory comments. He has since repeatedly apologized for his role in that conversation, which took place in October 2021.
Meanwhile, in the northwest San Fernando Valley, Councilman John Lee was facing off against nonprofit leader Serena Oberstein. That race, in its final days, has largely focused on the question of ethics.
Oberstein spent much of the campaign highlighting an ongoing ethics commission case against Lee, which largely deals with allegations that Lee violated laws governing the reporting and acceptance of gifts provided to politicians in the city. Lee, for his part, criticized Oberstein over a 2019 court case dealing with his eligibility to run for the council, which ended when a judge determined he was legally barred from running.
In a district that straddles the Hollywood Hills, Councilwoman Nithya Raman was looking to fend off challenges from the deputy city attorney. Ethan Weaver and software engineer Levon “Lev” Baronian. Raman had been running a very different race than the one she chose in 2020.
In South Los Angeles, Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson was the heavy favorite to win his bid for a third and final four-year term. His rivals in the race are real estate broker Jahan Epps and union leader Cliff Smith.
Meanwhile, in the San Fernando Valley, Councilwoman Imelda Padilla was the heavy favorite in her race against real estate broker Ely De La Cruz Ayao and Carmenlina Minasova, a respiratory care professional who is also running for the state Assembly. Padilla won a special election last summer, replacing former Council President Nury Martínez, and has been seeking his first full four-year term.
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Councilwoman Heather Hutt, who has been in office since 2022, was running for her first full four-year term in a district from Koreatown to Crenshaw.
Four candidates — state Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, attorney Grace Yoo, former City Commissioner Aura Vasquez and Pastor Eddie Anderson, a community organizer — sought to unseat Hutt, who was first appointed to the position several months ago. after former councilor Mark Ridley-Thomas. He was charged in a federal corruption case.
The only race without an incumbent took place in the East San Fernando Valley, where seven candidates sought to fill the seat vacated this year by Council President Paul Krekorian, first elected in 2009.
Former state Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, a former Krekorian aide, was running against housing advocate Manny Gonez, small business owner Jillian Burgos, Commissioner Sam Kbushyan and several others.
