Councilwoman Heather Hutt, one of the candidates endorsed by the L.A. Sentinel, was leading in her bid to represent the 10th District on the L.A. City Council.
According to election returns on early Wednesday, March 6, Hutt had captured 37% of the vote compared to her closest challenger, Grace Yoo, who had 30%. Hutt and Yoo were well ahead in the five-candidate field in Tuesday’s primary voting — with pastor and community organizer Eddie Anderson in third, small-business owner and environmental activist Aura Vásquez in fourth and former Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer in fifth.
The 10th District encompasses the Central L.A. neighborhoods of Arlington Heights, Koreatown, Mid-City, Palms, South Robertson, West Adams and Wilshire Center.
Also, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, also endorsed by the Sentinel, was on his way Wednesday to a resounding victory in his bid for a third and final term as City Councilman from District 8.
With more than 78 percent of the primary vote going his way as of early Wednesday, Harris-Dawson was trouncing his two opponents, Cliff Smith and Jahan Epps, who were a distant second and third, respectively.
Per primary rules, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters would duel in a runoff. But Harris-Dawson is set — again — to claim the seat outright in the primary.
He won the District 8 seat outright in both his previous council primaries — capturing more than 62% of the vote in 2015 and running unopposed in 2020.
The South Los Angeles district seat that encompasses the neighborhoods of Vermont Knolls, King Estates, Canterbury Knolls, Park Mesa Heights, Baldwin Hills, Hyde Park, Chesterfield Square, Vermont Vista, Green Meadows, View Heights and West Park Terrace.
Incumbent Nithya Raman, backed by L.A. Sentinel, and challenger Ethan Weaver will battle in a November runoff election in the race for the 4th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.
As of early Wednesday, Raman led the three-candidate field with 44.5% of the vote, while Weaver stood at 42.8%, followed by engineer and neighborhood council member Levon “Lev” Baronian well behind at 12.6%.
In L.A. County races, Supervisor Holly Mitchell was gearing up for her second term representing the board’s District 2 Wednesday after easily defeating a trio of challengers.
Mitchell, who was elected in 2020, was challenged in Tuesday’s election by Clint Carlton, founder and CEO of Safe Squad Inc., an online safety platform for children and seniors; Daphne Bradford, an education consultant and community organizer; and Katrina Williams, CEO of Changing the Faces of Homelessness, a nonprofit organization.
Mitchell easily fended off the challenges, dominating the voting and handily surpassing the 50% margin needed to avoid a November runoff.
The sprawling area of the 2nd District includes more than 40 communities, including Culver City, Marina del Rey and South Bay cities, as well Inglewood, Compton, Carson and much of South Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn was on the road to re-election for a third and final term Tuesday evening, holding a commanding lead over former Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor John Cruikshank.
The District 4 seat represents more than 50 communities, including Artesia, Long Beach, Pico Rivera, Torrance, Whittier, along with the unincorporated areas of East La Mirada, Santa Catalina Island, Westfield, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Harbor City, San Pedro and Wilmington.
Hahn, a longtime politician hailing from one of California’s most prominent political families, had 60.6% of the vote in early returns.
For LAUSD Board District 1, Sherlett Hendy Newbill, endorsed by the Sentinel, is in a tight race with Kahllid Al-Alim to replace Dr. George McKenna. With early results tallied, Al-Alim grabbed 23.2% of the vote, with Sherlett Hendy Newbill, an education policy adviser for McKenna, snaring 22.8%.
The other challengers are DeWayne Davis, an educational strategist, who was third at 19.4%, while Didi Watts, chief of staff to Ortiz Franklin, placed fourth at 15.1%. Rina Tambor, a tutor, was fifth with 8.4%, followed by Christian Flagg, a community organizer, in sixth place with 6.6%, and John Aaron Brasfield, an educator, placing seventh with 4.2% of the vote.
City News Service contributed to this report.
