DANIEL WONG Jack Weiss, a candidate for
city council from the fifth district, shakes hands with supporters
during his post-election gathering Tuesday night in Westwood as
results trickle in.
By Steve Christol, Michael Falcone, and Dexter
Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Senior Staff Results of the Los Angeles city primary
election trickled in this morning, though final tallies of several
close races may not be officially determined until all the
city’s absentee ballots are counted over the next few days.
With more than 60 percent of precincts reporting, former State
Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and City Attorney James Hahn
emerged as the two top vote-getters in the city’s mayoral
primary. Trailing Hahn by 7 percent, businessman Steve Soboroff
seems to have lost his chance for the June 5 runoff. Within the
fifth council district, which includes UCLA and Westwood, Tom
Hayden and Jack Weiss led a field of 11 candidates and both moved
on to the next round of the election. Before the election, City
Clerk Mike Carey predicted a turnout near 40 percent, greater than
in any past city primary, according to the Associated Press.
The mayoral primary Hahn and Villaraigosa
gained a significant lead over 13 other candidates early this
morning. Villaraigosa garnered nearly 30 percent of the vote, while
Hahn trailed close behind with more than 27 percent. Soboroff, the
only Republican of the leading six candidates, was running steady
in third place with 20.1 percent of the vote. City Councilman Joel
Wachs stood in fourth place with 10.76 percent of the vote, while
Congressman Xavier Becerra and California State Controller Kathleen
Connell both lagged behind with under 10 percent. At press time,
none of the other nine candidates on the ballot reached more than 1
percent of the vote. Hahn has led in the polls since this
year’s race for mayor began. He was the first candidate to
announce his bid for mayor two years ago. Among his accomplishments
during his 16 years as L.A. city attorney and as city controller,
Hahn created legislation combating street gangs, improved firearm
safety and broadened laws preventing domestic violence. Hahn has
also authored strict guidelines for the upkeep of housing
facilities in the city and helped in successfully convicting guilty
slumlords. According to a campaign representative for Hahn, the
city attorney spent Tuesday meeting and greeting voters at his
campaign headquarters on Crenshaw Boulevard. According to a
spokesman for Villaraigosa’s campaign, the former state
assembly speaker spent election day attending rallies around the
city, including a labor union rally and a Democratic Party rally in
the San Fernando Valley. Villaraigosa also attended a rally at his
campaign headquarters on Crenshaw Boulevard. Villaraigosa was
elected in 1994 to represent the 45th Assembly District in the
California Legislature, and was then elected Speaker of the
Assembly in 1998. First-year geography student Gabriel Serrano said
he was looking for a candidate with political experience as well as
experience in life. “It seems like he’s been through a
lot in his youth,” he said. Serrano said he is 80 percent
confident that Villaraigosa will win the election.
City council, district five A former state
senator and former assistant U.S. attorney will likely spar in a
runoff for the city council seat for the fifth district.
Hayden’s 33.52 percent topped Weiss’ vote total by
nearly 10 percentage points. Most of the other nine candidates
trailed far behind Weiss and Hayden. Candidates Steve Saltzman and
Laura Lake were in a battle for third place with about 9 percent of
the vote. For candidates for the seat,the day ranged from stressful
to relaxing. Graffiti fighter Joe Connolly took the time to secure
some last-minute funds in the event of a runoff while managing to
spend some time with his family. Frontrunner Hayden spent most of
the afternoon walking precincts on Ventura Boulevard and in the
Valley. Tuesday, public policy graduate student and Hayden campaign
worker Jennifer Colamonico said voters will be more active than in
previous elections. “There’s been so many candidates
that we definitely think it will be a higher turnout,”
Colamonico said. Rodney Scott, campaign manager for Ken Gerston,
noted that the tight mayoral race helped to raise voter turnout for
the fifth district race. “The mayoral candidates have brought
so much into the race that I think the voter turnout will be much
higher,” Scott said. Weiss’ campaign came to a softer
but still strong finale, according to campaign manager Susan Shaw.
“It’s been fairly quiet … we’ve done everything
we could have,” Shaw said. “We have a good broad base,
so we’re expecting a big turnout.” Weiss and his
supporters celebrated his runoff victory at a Westwood restaurant.
The 11 candidates set a mark as the highest number of candidates to
ever run for the position in this district and set the highest
level of fundraising ““ reaching nearly $4 million in total
campaign contributions. Though the primary is over, two
election-related lawsuits are pending. The first is led by
Connolly, and accuses Hayden of perjury and residency fraud. Hayden
maintains a Brentwood estate located in the 11th city council
district, but recently moved into a new residence in Westwood.
Results from other races “¢bull; Fifth-district
city councilman Mike Feuer and Rocky Delgadillo will likely meet in
a runoff for city attorney. Feuer maintained a slight edge over
Delgadillo with nearly 40 percent of the vote. “¢bull; Voters
overwhelmingly supported City Councilwoman Laura Chick as the next
City Controller. Chick seemed to have won the election outright,
capturing 61.94 percent of the vote, 34 percentage points more than
her nearest competitor, Laurette Healey. “¢bull; The race for Los
Angeles Unified School district board member from this district was
headed for a runoff between Valerie Fields, who won 38.29 percent
of the vote, and Marlene Canter, who was in second with 32.62
percent. “¢bull; All three ballot measures on Tuesday’s
ballot passed. Charter Amendment 1 and 2 as well as Proposition A
won handily, each commanding more than 65 percent of city
voters’ support.
LOS ANGELES CITY PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS These
results were current as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, with 60.86 percent
of precints reporting. Mayor
Antonio
Villaraigosa
29.58%
James Hahn
27.03%
Joel Wachs 10.76% Xavier Becerra 6.26% Steve Soboroff 20.1%
Kathleen Connell 4.76% Rob Black .15% Wendy Lyons .17% Joe Shea
.13% Francis Dellavechhia .35% Melrose Larry Green .17% Bob Tur
.13% Martin Aubrey Sr. .20% Steve Mozena .06% Addie Mae Miller .10%
City Controller Laura Chick 61.94% Mervin Evans
10.14% Laurette Healey 27.91% Amendments &
Propositions Charter Amendment 1 YES, 76.81% Charter
Amendment 2 YES, 76.44% Proposition A YES, 68.58% City
Council District Five
Tom Hayden
33.52%
Jack Weiss
22.68%
Jill Barad 4.12% Laura Lake 8.85% Steve Saltzman 9.32% Robin
Ritter-Simon 5.13% Victor Viereck .63% Joe Connolly 7.1% Nathan
Bernstein 2.73% Ken Gerston 4.58% Constantina Milonopoulos 1.31%
City Attorney Mike Feuer 39.96% Rocky Degadillo
37.34% Lea D’Agostino 14.94% Frank Tavelman 7.72% LAUSD
Board District Four Valerie Fields 38.29% Marlene Canter
32.62% Matthew Rodman 19.96% Rick Selan 9.10% SOURCE: Los Angeles
County Registrar’s Office Original graphic by Adam Brown/Daily
Bruin Web adaptation by Stephen Wong/Daily Bruin Staff