Use this cheat-sheet for L.A. City Council Elections this March
A brief overview of key candidates to watch heading into February 2024
2024 is an election year, but well ahead of the presidential ticket in November are presidential primaries this March. Yet the vote is even closer than this since ballots reach mailboxes in L.A. as soon as February 5th. There’s just one glaring problem when it comes to primaries, though. As noted in a 2022 report by States United Action, a lobbying group: “In U.S. elections since 2000, the average turnout rate for primary elections is 27% of registered voters. In contrast, the average turnout rate for general elections is 60.5% of registered voters.” This claim was accurate in L.A. County as recently as 2022, when just about 28% of registered voters participated in that year’s primaries, down from 76% in 2020.
Generally speaking, then, on a residential street with say ten homes, each of which houses at least one person who receives a mail-in-ballot, less than three people can be expected to actually fill out and turn in their ballot for primary elections. At the same time, these voters are more likely to be white and over the age of 65, as shown in this study by the Public Policy Institute of California. So even in California, which is already a “minority-majority” state, the people most likely to decide whether to send Joe Biden, Donald Trump or Cornel West to November’s General Election are not young or prime working year professionals, nor immigrants and communities of color, but historically wealthier communities who have gained substantially from policies like redlining and single-family zoning, and who are also increasingly more amenable to reductive and regressive immigration and law enforcement policy.
These odds notwithstanding, if you and your neighbors are looking to get informed early and even help increase turnout for the vote this March, here’s a quick run-through of L.A. City Council races to look out for based on funds raised for the 2024 primaries per the most recent campaign disclosures (Q3). From the Crenshaw-Slauson area, to as far west as Northridge; and from the busy intersections of North Hollywood to the hills of Boyle Heights, people everywhere can make the difference to represent their communities at L.A. City Hall in 2024. Before the end of January Making a Neighborhood will have a similar overview of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and District Attorney’s elections (and maybe more). You can also continue down the rabbit hole, including on California Assembly Member, U.S. House of Representative, and LAUSD races through J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast.
L.A. Council District 14
Neighborhoods in CD-14 include Boyle Heights, Skid Row, El Sereno, Ramona Gardens, the Arts District, Eagle Rock, and parts of Highland Park.
L.A. City Council District 14 is currently helmed by Kevin De León, and based on his fundraising numbers for the seat so far and other resources he’s likely accrued from nearly 18 years in office, it’s safe to assume he’ll make it to the runoff ballot in November. The question is who he’ll be facing off with then. Two eastside California State Assembly members, Miguel Santiago and Wendy Carrillo–Santiago in office since 2014 and Carrillo in office since 2017–have mustered considerable campaign contributions to replace De León for CD-14; at the same time, Ysabel Jurado, a Tenants’ Rights attorney and first-time candidate for office, has raised more than $150,000 in campaign contributions thanks to L.A.’s matching funds clause. Council District 14 faces the highest number of eviction filings out of all City Council districts, according to Council Member Eunisses Hernandez. The district also maintains the highest number of unhoused Angelenos with over 9,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night, according to LAHSA. Boyle Heights Beat is also hosting a Candidate Forum at Mendez High School to learn more about the prospective representatives.
Candidate: Miguel Santiago. Funds Raised: $359,848.17. Endorsed by: Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
Candidate: Wendy Carrillo. Funds Raised: $180,761.87. Endorsed by: Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Candidate: Kevin De Leon (Incumbent). Funds Raised: $117,285.00. Endorsed by: (Unknown.)
Candidate: Ysabel Jurado. Funds Raised: $101,643.86. Endorsed by: CD-1 Representative Eunisses Hernandez, LAUSD Board President Jackie Goldberg, Culver City Mayor Emeritus Dr. Daniel Wayne Lee.
L.A. City Council District 10
Neighborhoods in CD-10 include Arlington Heights, Koreatown, Wilshire Center, Mid-City, Palms, South Robertson, West Adams.
Almost four years since Mark Ridley-Thomas left his position at the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and returned to L.A. City Hall as Council District 10’s representative–and two years since Nury Martinez appointed Herb Wesson to be his replacement in another cause célèbre–the district is up for election again. There are three candidates who have raised considerable funds for the position, including Grace Yoo, Heather Hutt (the current representative for the area), and Reginald Thomas-Sawyer.
This is actually Yoo’s third time running for the seat since 2015, and this time, the most recent reporting for campaign contributions shows her ahead of the pack. In a 2020 runoff against Ridley-Thomas, Yoo garnered just under 40% of the vote. Heather Hutt currently represents CD-10, but she was only appointed by the L.A. City Council in March 2022 after a Superior Court judge blocked Herb Wesson from the office due to his previous term in CD-10 from 2005 - 2020. Hutt was also noted by Nury Martinez in the 2022 leaked audio as an ally who would not significantly stir up trouble for the council in the ways of a progressive. Lastly, Reginald Jones-Sawyer has been a California Assembly Member for the 57th (formerly known as the 59th) district since 2012. His entry into the race is at the very least peculiar since he’s spent over a decade as a representative for communities south of the 10 Freeway from Exposition Park to Florence-Firestone. It’s also not entirely surprising, however, since California Assembly Members are termed out after 12 years. L.A. Forward held a Candidate Forum recently with these and more candidates, which Elizabeth Chou of L.A. Public Press covered.
Candidate: Grace Yoo. Funds Raised: $186,714.81. Endorsed by: Former LA City Controller, City Council Member, and California Inspector General Laura Chick.
Candidate: Heather Hutt (Incumbent). Funds Raised: $174,785.00. Endorsed by: The Hollywood Chamber PAC.
Candidate: Reginald Jones-Sawyer. Funds Raised: $174,126.00. Endorsed by: Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Congressman Adam Schiff.
L.A. City Council District 2
Neighborhoods in CD-2 include North Hollywood, Studio City, Sun Valley, Toluca Lake, Valley Glen, Valley Village, and Van Nuys.
This seat is being vacated by Paul Krekorian, who has served as the city representative for this “southeast” portion of the San Fernando Valley community since 2010. There will be seven candidates on the ballot for Council District 2, but given the major gap in fundraising separating Adrian Nazarian and Sam Kbushyan from the rest of the field–not to mention the Armenian-American community’s commitment to seeing another representative like Krekorian take his place–it’s probably safe to say they’ll be reaching the runoff in November barring any major changes in funds raised by their competitors. Nonetheless, this past August L.A. Forward hosted a Candidate Forum with the folks hoping to represent CD-2 from 2024 - 2028.
Candidate: Adrian Nazarian. Funds Raised: $540,783.00. Endorsed by: Mayor Bass, L.A. County Sheriff Luna, outgoing CD-2 Rep. Paul Krekorian.
Candidate: Sam Kbushyan. Funds Raised: $293,345.00. Endorsed by: Former L.A. City Attorney, Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich.
Candidate: Manuel Gonez. Funds Raised: $140,145.79. Endorsed by: Cindy Montanez, Victor Narro of the UCLA Labor Center, Ed Begley Jr., Muslim Dem Club of Southern California.
L.A. City Council District 4
Neighborhoods in CD-4 include Los Feliz, Hollywood Hills, Encino, Sherman Oaks, parts of Reseda, Silver Lake, Studio City, and Van Nuys.
Nithya Raman defied the odds in 2020 when she beat then-incumbent L.A. City Council Member David Ryu to represent the 4th district. She is now up for reelection and faces Ethan Weaver, who has run a campaign critical of Raman’s progressive policies. Yet Council District 4 has seen a reduction of the number of unhoused people since 2020 and is likely to continue in this trend through Raman’s tenure. Council District 4 also saw the largest changes in representation when L.A. City Council approved maps that took away up to 40% of the district that she was originally elected by. To be sure, this past September L.A. Forward hosted a brief Candidate Forum featuring Raman and Weaver on the issues.
Candidate: Nithya Raman (Incumbent). Funds Raised: $254,085.22. Endorsed by: Mayor Bass, Supervisor Hilda Solis, Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley
Candidate: Ethan Weaver. Funds Raised: $141,779.93. Endorsed by: L.A. Police Protective League, United Firefighters L.A. City, Association for L.A. Deputy Sheriffs.
L.A. City Council District 6
Neighborhoods in CD-6 include Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta, North Hills, North Hollywood and Sun Valley.
Council District 6 held a special election last June to replace Nury Martinez following her resignation from the L.A. City Council and elected Imelda Padilla until December 2024. Padilla was the sole fundraiser for the district as of September 2023, but she does face at least one challenger, Ely De La Cruz Ayao, a Filipino-American Real Estate Broker from the area.
Candidate: Imelda Padilla (Incumbent). Funds Raised: $34,960.00. Endorsed (previously) by: L.A. Times, L.A. Daily News, The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA).
L.A. City Council District 12
Neighborhoods in CD-12 include Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, West Hills, North Hills, and Reseda.
John Lee has represented this north-western half of the San Fernando Valley since 2019, after defeating Cal State Northridge’s Loraine Lundquist in a tight contest where just 801 votes made the difference. Now, Lee is the sole fundraiser for CD-12, though he is technically facing at least one opponent, Serena Oberstein, who previously served on the L.A. Ethics Commission. Lee is also currently engaged in a lawsuit with the L.A. Ethics Commission, which alleges that he unethically accepted gifts while he was a staffer under CD-12’s former representative Mitchell Englander. You can learn more through the renowned L.A. Podcast’s original discussion of the issue.
Candidate: John Lee (Incumbent). Funds Raised: $308,352.00. Endorsed (previously) by: The Armenian National Committee of America – North San Fernando Valley (ANCA – North SFV), Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
L.A. City Council District 8
Neighborhoods in CD-8 include Baldwin Hills, Chesterfield Square, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Jefferson Park, West Adams, Hyde Park, Vermont Vista, Green Meadows, View Heights and West Park Terrace.
CD-8 is home to the Crenshaw area, West Adams, and the Vermont-Florence area, and has been overseen by Marqueece Harris-Dawson since 2015. He is highly likely to be reelected in 2024 for his final term as the community’s representative at L.A. City Hall. Recent reports show that CD-8 has remained the third most affected District in terms of homelessness for over a decade, however, the district did see improvement in terms of people housed since 2020. CD-8 is also the only district of the top four on this list to have more sheltered than unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. Given Harris-Dawson’s position as the Chair of the Planning and Land Use Management committee at L.A. City Hall since 2019, it’ll be key to keep track of CD-8’s progress on this enduring issue. While Harris-Dawson was the only fundraiser for the seat as of September 2023, he will technically face Jahan Epps, a real estate broker, and Cliff Smith, a Union Community Organizer.
Candidate: Marqueece Harris-Dawson (Incumbent). Funds Raised: $177,150.00. Endorsed (previously) by: Congressman Bass, former Mayor Garcetti, CD-2 Rep. Paul Krekorian.
There you have it, Los Angeles. Now you know which L.A. City Council races to watch for this March 2024 (or February 5th if you’re an early bird). Tell your neighbors! And check back soon for more updates.
J.T.
Please do a similar column on LAUSD school board elections.
Are you guys still around? Haven’t seen any updated posts on IG.