[UPDATED Monday, 11/14 at 5:37 p.m.]
L.A. TACO is here to tell you where things stand in regards to some of the major local elections and state ballot measures, as of this writing.
The Race For L.A. Mayor: Currently, Karen Bass has been increasing her lead, hitting 52.15% votes while Rick Caruso stands at just 47.85%. This could still be anyone's victory when all is said and done.
The Race For L.A. Sheriff: According to LAVote.gov, East L.A.'s own Robert Luna, the current Police Chief of Long Beach, has a lead of 59.84% of the vote on current/controversial L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva, with 40.16%.
Supervisor 3rd District: Horvath currently leads Hertzberg by a little under 9,000 votes.
The Race For City Attorney: The job of big dog lawyer for all of Los Angeles is so far leaning towards Hydee Feldstein Soto, who has a big early lead of 57.13% to Faisal M. Gill's 42.87%.
City Council: Four seats, in Districts 5, 11, 13, and 15 respectively, were being fought over in this election amid a backdrop of a disgraced, scandalized City Hall. So far, Katy Young Yaroslavsky leads Sam Yebri by over 16% of votes in the 5th District. A similar lead of more than 10% is currently held by potential law enforcement funding-booster and lawyer Traci Park over civil rights attorney and former public defender Erin Darling for Mike Bonin's seat in the Westside's 11th District. Mitch O'Farrell, L.A.'s first Native American councilmember, is down more than 9% to United Here Local 11 organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez in the 13th District. And in District 15, stretching from Watts to Wilmington, former James Hahn chief of staff and police union lobbyist Tim McOsker has a big early lead of over 30% on Danielle Sandoval, who likely took a hit to her progressive image over allegations of wage theft from former employees.
The Race For Long Beach Mayor: Rex Richardson, the current Vice Mayor of Long Beach, has a lead of over 8,000 votes on Councilwoman Suzie Price.
As for local measures we've had our eyes on, results appear to be more solidified. Here's the latest:
Measure A: The measure that would give the Board of Supervisors authority to impeach and remove the Sheriff for cause lo0ks all but certain, with 69.04% of the vote and most votes cast.
Measure LH: The measure that would allow the city to surpass low-income housing caps in each council district and authorize additional low-income housing units has all but passed with 67.17% of the vote, with a majority of votes cast.
Measure SP: Proposed as a 8.4-cent-per-square-foot parcel tax on real estate to raise billions for the city's parks and recreational facilities, Knock LA called it out as Joe Buscaino's "disguised attempt to tax the people of LA to fund the 2028 Olympics." Fortunately, it appears to have failed at the ballot box, with 64.68% of voters casting "No" votes yesterday, with the majority of votes cast.
Measure ULA: Designed to build affordable housing and finance renter programs by taxing the sale of properties valued over $5 million, approval for the measure hovers at 54.12% of the vote, with those voting "No" comprising 45.88% of the vote, with a majority of votes cast.
State-wide, there was some good news to be found for progressives, as evidenced by results in several battles for government seats, as well as in a couple of the following State measures and propositions:
State Measure 1: Californians voted overwhelmingly to bolster, expand, and clarify one's rights to reproductive freedom in our state's constitution.
State Measure 29: Perhaps one of the trickiest measures on the ballot, 29's approval might have broken the stranglehold two companies have on the state's dialysis clinics, making care more affordable and safer for patients in the process. Sadly, this Babylon tricknology worked, as the measure appears to have been overwhelmingly defeated by 65.52% to 34.48%.
Props 26 & 27: 26 would allow a greater number of games of chance at racetracks and casinos on tribal land, to the supposed financial benefit of Natives. 27 would open the doors to online gambling just about anywhere in the state, to the benefit of greedy corporate vampires. Both failed at the ballot box. Despite A LOT of commercials.
Prop 28: Looks like Californians were mostly all in on this proposition, which demands the state spends a percentage of its general fund on arts and music education in our public schools. To the tune of 66.27% of voter approval.
Prop 31: A retail ban on flavored tobacco products sounded just about right to Californians, who voted 64.25% to 35.75% to institute the restriction, reviving the state's own 2020 ban on such products that the tobacco industry was able to temporarily stymie.
Stay tuned, as we plan to update you as we learn more solid details post-election day.
