As the Courier went to press on Nov. 16, the Associated Press declared U.S. Rep. Karen Bass the winner of the Los Angeles mayor’s race. In an email to supporters reported by City News Service, Bass wrote, “The results are in, and it is the honor of my life to be elected as your mayor. Angelenos came together, across every neighborhood and all walks of life, to be heard — and I hear you. Despite some undecided county races, the future makeup of the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Board of Education looks all but certain for incumbent Rachelle Marcus and Judy Manouchehri. At press time, Marcus leads with 32.39% of the vote, and Manouchehri, about 500 votes behind Marcus, with 28.73%. Candidate Michal Amir-Salkin received 17.53%, Farrah Dodes received 17.20%, and Janessa LaVoice with 4.15% of the vote.
In the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s race representing the 3rd District, West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath has expanded her lead over Senator Bob Hertzberg by about 15,000 votes at press time. The latest results show Horvath received 51.82% of the vote, and Hertzberg at 48.18%. Over 600,000 ballots countywide are believed to still be outstanding from the Nov. 8 election, although it’s unclear how many of them are from the county’s District 3. The District 3 seat covers a majority of the San Fernando Valley, stretching from Westlake Village and Malibu to Calabasas, West Hills, Porter Ranch, San Fernando, Panorama City and Northridge, while also stretching to West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.
On Nov. 15, incumbent L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva conceded defeat to former Long Beach police Chief Robert Luna as results from last week’s election continued to favor Luna in the race to head the largest sheriff’s department in the nation. In the last week, Villanueva has consistently trailed behind Luna, with the latest results showing Luna up by nearly 20 percentage points with 60.29% of the vote, and Villanueva with 39.71%.
“I want to wish the incoming sheriff well,” Villanueva said at a Nov. 15 news conference. “I want him to succeed for a simple reason – the safety of the community depends on him succeeding. The welfare of every single person on the department depends on him succeeding.”
In the Los Angeles mayoral race, Rep. Karen Bass has built a nearly 50,000-vote lead over developer Rick Caruso, holding 53.06% of the vote to his 46.94%. After the Nov. 15 update, an estimated 565,050 ballots still need to be processed according to the clerk’s office, but it’s unclear how many of the uncounted votes are from the city of Los Angeles. The last five updates after Election Day have all resulted in gains for Bass, who took the lead in the vote count on Nov. 11.
To ensure that each vote is counted, California law requires election officials to accept ballots that are postmarked by election day up until one week after the election, which extends and slows the vote count period.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office announced on Nov. 15 that updates on election results will now be reported daily between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. through Saturday, Nov. 19.
To see the latest election results, visit https://results.lavote.gov.
