Heather Hutt looks to push race into runoff
Educator and community organizer, Isaac Bryan, was just short of the majority needed to win the 54th Assembly District special election without a runoff, according to semi-official results released tonight by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.
Bryan had 49.62% of the vote. Fellow Democrat Heather Hutt, a former state director for then-Sen. Kamala Harris, was second with 24.61%.
Attorney Cheryl C. Turner, also a Democrat, was third with 10.49%, the only other candidate in the field of five Democrats and a Socialist Worker’s Party candidate with more than 8%.
An updated vote count will be released Friday, according to Mike Sanchez, the public information officer with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.
If Bryan has less than a majority when the results are certified, he will face Hutt in a runoff July 20. The special election was necessitated by Sydney Kamlager’s election to the state Senate in a special election March 2, filling the vacancy caused by Holly J. Mitchell’s election to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
The 54th Assembly District consists of Baldwin Hills, Cheviot Hills, the Crenshaw District, Century City, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Mar Vista, Palms, Rancho Park, Westwood and parts of South Los Angeles and Inglewood.
Bryan has advised Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Kamlager on youth development and strategies aimed at reducing the number of people becoming homeless.
Bryan co-chaired the campaign on behalf of Measure J, the charter amendment approved by voters in November requiring that a minimum of 10% of Los Angeles County’s unrestricted general funds be spent on housing, mental health treatment, jail diversion programs and other alternatives to incarceration.
“Passing Measure J was a real win for Los Angeles, and for me, but the morning after our win, I learned that one of my siblings had been arrested and charged in San Diego for actions that are now treated with a public health approach here in Los Angeles,” said Bryan, the founding director of the UCLA Black Policy Project.
“That’s when I realized I had to run for state Assembly. The 54th Assembly District has the potential to lead the entire state of California.”
Hutt said she was running “to bring my activism, strong community connections, and years of public service to the forefront of change statewide.”
Hutt said the top issues she would fight for in the Assembly are health care and welfare, education and equity, including fighting “for justice in our communities, especially when it comes to the health and welfare of our families and children,” increasing teacher pay “to attract the best and the brightest for our children,” ensuring “our children have safe spaces after school” and working “to ensure that every Californian is treated with dignity.”
