By JOSE HERRERA
City News Service
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – In the special election to fill L.A. City Council seat vacated by Nury Martinez, community relations manager Imelda Padilla remained in the lead with Marisa Alcaraz pulling ahead in the close race for second as the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk today updated vote results.
Padilla received 3,421 votes, 25.69%, of the ballots counted in the District 6 race, according to figures reported in Friday’s update voted count. Alcaraz was second with 2,812 votes, or 21.12%. Marco Santana was third with 2,515 votes or 18.89%. Rose Grigoryan was fourth, with 1,980 votes, or 14.87%.
Less than 300 votes separate Alcaraz and Santana.
Small business owner Issac Kim was the only other candidate in the field of seven to top 10%, with 1,452 votes, or 10.90%.
If no candidate receives a majority, there will be a runoff between the top two vote-getters, with the deadline to cast ballots on June 27.
Turnout was low, with initial returns including 9,085 ballots cast, or 7.67% of the 118,473 voters registered in District 6. The initial tally includes 8,301 ballots from voters by mail and 784 ballots from in-person vote centers.
Friday’s vote update added 4,398 ballots, 88 in-person and 4,310 by mail. According to the registrar, approximately 13,483 ballots have been tallied so far, or just 11.38% of registered voters.
The next update will be Tuesday.
Council District 6 consists of Van Nuys, Arleta, Lake Balboa, Panorama City, Sun Valley and the eastern portions of North Hills and North Hollywood.
Martinez represented the district until October when she resigned from her council presidency and then, two days later, her seat altogether. Her resignation came in the wake of Martinez being caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly taped and leaked to the news media.
Former Councilman Gil Cedillo was also in that meeting, along with Councilman Kevin de León and Ron Herrera, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Herrera also resigned from his post, while Cedillo ultimately left the council at the end of his term after losing his bid for re-election in June.
De León has defied continued calls for his resignation but has been stripped by the council of major committee assignments and largely shunned by council colleagues.
The Sixth District is being overseen by a non-voting caretaker, the city’s chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso. A non-voting caretaker does not hold a seat on the council but oversees the council office to make sure the district provides constituent services and other basic functions.
The winner of the special election will finish Martinez’s term, which ends in December 2024.
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