Updated election results posted last Friday, June 17, by the LA County Registrar Recorder/County Clerk show Hugo Soto-Martinez expanding his lead in vote totals in the CD 13 City Council seat race and Katy Young Yaroslavsky increasing her lead in the CD 5 race. Both races appear headed to a run-off this fall.
Soto-Martinez, who has has increased his lead over incumbent Mitch O’Farrell by more than 3,600 votes, told the Buzz. “I’m incredibly grateful to the community of CD13 for believing in our movement and delivering this historic result. The people used their votes to speak loud and clear that they want a new, positive vision for homelessness and public safety.”
“Up against special interests like the Corporate Landlord Lobby spending over $1,000,000 to try to buy this election, we set a record margin of victory for a challenger facing an incumbent,” Soto-Martinez added. “Our campaign is ready to bring even more folks into our movement and earn their votes in the months ahead to give the community a voice in City Hall.”
Staff for Councilmember O’Farrell did not have a comment. But political insiders warn against counting O’Farrell out of the race at this point.
“It would be foolish to count O’Farrell out just yet,” wrote LA Magazine columnist Jon Regardie. “The Oklahoma native and liberal Democrat is a scrapper, and he has overcome long odds before—when he first ran for council in the 2013 primary, four candidates raised more money than he did. O’Farrell finished first in the race, then crunched a labor-backed foe in the runoff.”
In our other local city council race, Katy Young Yaroslavsky continues to increase her lead in the CD 5 race against second-highest vote getter Sam Yebri.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the voters of CD 5 for their overwhelming support,” Yaroslavsky told the Buzz in an email today. “In a competitive four-way race I earned nearly half of the votes cast, making it clear that my vision, experience, and campaign message resonated with CD 5 residents.”
“The voters demonstrated that they want the proven and thoughtful leadership needed to make meaningful progress on issues like the homelessness crisis, public safety, and our environment,” she added. “I am ready to get started on this work my first day in office. CD 5 voters weren’t fooled by over a million dollars in spending on deceitful ads and now have a clear choice in the general election. Either more of the same from a special interest insider or independent leadership. Voters know I’m not for sale. I’ve built a broad coalition of endorsers including the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the LA Times, and now, a plurality of CD 5 voters who know I am the most qualified candidate. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue to meet new voters over the next four months.”
Yebri told the Buzz that he is continuing to campaign as an outsider, uniquely qualified to address the district’s issues.
“Every single day, Los Angeles becomes less affordable, less safe, and less vibrant,” said Yebri. “The general election will present the residents of the 5th District a stark choice between new pragmatic leadership or more of the same failed policies of the political establishment.”
On election night, Yaroslavsky came very close to getting a majority of votes with total of 50.93% of ballots counted as of late that evening. But as votes continued to be tallied, she ended up with 47.43% of the votes counted on Wednesday. As of this week, she is tantalizingly close to gaining a plurality of the votes, with 48.99% of the ballots cast.
According to the county, there are still 74,100 ballots to be counted. The next update is likely to be released later today.
See estimates below:
• Vote by Mail ballots (VBM): 73,850
• Provisional and Conditional Voter Registration ballots: 150
• Misc. ballots*: 100
The update includes 312,328 ballots processed since Election Night. The total election vote count is now 1,570,377, which represents 27.60% of registered voters. Election results can be viewed on LAVOTE.GOV.
