The night of June 3 was the culmination of a very busy primary election season that is also a sign of an equally busy General Election in November. The Los Angeles County Registrar reports an overall statewide voter turnout of 13.19% votes cast. Not very high. Below are the results for a number of local elections of interest to us here in the South Bay:
Torrance
Pat Furey won the race for Mayor of Torrance with a 41% of votes, a comfortable 5% ahead of the second-place finisher, Tom Brewer. Candidate Bill Sutherland, supported by SBAOR, came in third at 23.6%. The Daily Breeze reports that it is expected the new City Council will appoint a new member to complete Furey’s two remaining years in his council term. Click here for local coverage of the Mayor’s race.
Of the sixteen candidates running for City Council, the four winners are:
• Heidi Ann Ashcraft (appointed incumbent): 13.4%
• Tim Goodrich: 12.0%
• Kurt Weideman (appointed incumbent): 11.25%
• Geoff Rizzo: 9.9%
Senate District 26
This nail-biting and widely watched Senate race ended with a Cinderella story out of nowhere as Santa Monica School Board Member Ben Allen (D) and attorney Sandra Fluke (D) sailed past favorite candidates to qualify for the November runoff. Allen received 21.8% while Fluke received 19.7%.
Former Assemblymember Betsy Butler (supported by CREPAC) came in fourth with 16.7% while Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth picked up 15.5%. News on this race here.
Congressional District 33
The race to fill the shoes of Rep. Henry Waxman turned into a traditional partisan battle, with Republican Elan Carr as the top vote-getter at 21.5% and Democrat Ted Lieu at 19.0%. Former Los Angeles Councilmember and Controller Wendy Greuel came in third with 16.8%, followed by published author Marianne Williamson (12.9%) and KCRW host Matt Miller (12.0%). The Los Angeles Times weighs in here.
Congressional District 43
Incumbent Democrat Maxine Waters (67.2%) will face Republican John Wood (32.8%) in November.
Los Angeles County Assessor
West Hollywood Councilmember/Mayor Jeff Prang will face Deputy District Attorney John Morris in the November runoff, as both candidates attempt to expiate the Assessor’s Office of its troubles from the previous Assessor. Prang has been supported by a number of REALTOR® association in Los Angeles County.
Los Angeles County Sheriff
Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell came within a handful of votes to win Sheriff outright. However, he ended the night with a remarkable 49.2% of the votes and will face Gardena Mayor Paul Tanaka, who came in a distant second place with 14.7%. Click here for media coverage of this race.
Assembly District 62
Autumn Burke, daughter of retired County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, was heavily favored by the Democratic Party and supported by CREPAC. She was the top vote-getter at 41.2% and will face Republican Ted Grose who got 20.0%.
Assembly District 64
Carson Councilmember Mike Gipson, supported by CREPAC, won 51.1% of the vote and will face second-place finisher Prophet Walker, who got 21.4%. Long Beach Councilmember Steve Neal came in third at 15.0%.
Assembly District 66
While not exactly a breathtaking result – this race had just two candidates who will by default advance to the runoff – it was nonetheless a surprising photo finish between incumbent Al Muratsuchi (D) with 50.08% and challenger David Hadley (R) who garnered 49.92%. The razor-thin margin of just 73 votes draws the battle lines for November in what could be a tough race for both candidates.
Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District
Two Democratic heavyweights, Bobby Shriver and Shelia Kuehl, will face each other in November in what is likely to be a messy and expensive runoff as the largely Democratic residents and donors of the Westside square off over the future of the County and the County’s influence in West L.A. News coverage here.
Long Beach Mayor
Long Beach Councilmember Robert Garcia won with 52.1% in a close race with businessman Damon Dunn, who got 47.9%. Long Beach media coverage here.
Proposition 41: Veterans Housing
The “Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014” won soundly with 65.4% voting yes and 34.6% voting no. Under the successful proposition, the State of California will sell $600 million in general obligation bonds to fund affordable multifamily housing for low-income and homeless veterans.
Proposition 42: Public Records and Open Meetings
This proposition passed easily with 61.5% yes and 38.5% no. As a result of this vote, the state will not be required to pay local governments for costs to follow state laws that give the public access to local government information.
