An overview of LA-area city council and school board races, plus local measures
In a presidential election year, it can sometimes feel as though local contests end up taking a back seat to big national races.
But in Los Angeles, one city council race that had already garnered much attention has only grown more contentious in the lead-up to Election Day. The Council District 14 race, between Councilmember Kevin de León and political newcomer Ysabel Jurado, features an incumbent who has weathered calls to step down for his role in a secretly recorded conversation filled with racist and derogatory comments. His opponent, Jurado, also found herself at the center of a controversy and drew criticism for recently saying “[expletive] the police” after a student asked her position on police spending. Jurado later issued a statement saying she was quoting a lyric from a song.
Beyond that race, there are two other L.A. City Council races and a half-dozen city measures on the Nov. 5 ballot for Angelenos to take note of. Many of the measures are aimed at improving government transparency and ethics oversight following a series of political scandals at L.A. City Hall.
Read more about these and other L.A.-area city council and school board races on Nov. 5, below.
But first, we’ll start with a rundown of key Congressional and state legislative races.
You can also check out our L.A. County Voter Guide at dailynews.com/voter-guide for more information about races, candidates’ responses to our questionnaires, and links to stories explaining ballot measures.
House of Representatives
California’s 27th Congressional District race between Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia and Democratic challenger George Whitesides is a key battleground race that could help determine which party controls the lower house of Congress. The 27th District represents parts of northern Los Angeles County, including the high desert communities of Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita.
Another battleground House race in District 45 has Republican incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel duking it out with Democratic attorney Derek Tran. The winner will represent Hawaiian Gardens and Artesia in southeastern L.A. County, as well as parts of northeastern Orange County.
State races and propositions
L.A. County voters will be casting votes to help determine the outcome of five state Senate races and two dozen Assembly races.
In addition, there are 10 state propositions on the ballot with topics ranging from affordable housing and rent control to healthcare spending to penalties for certain retail theft and drug crimes.
L.A. City Council
District 2: Former state Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian is vying against small business owner and optician Jillian Burgos. The new council member will replace Councilmember Paul Krekorian, who represented the district for 15 years and whose term expires in December. Nazarian was chief of staff to then-Assemblymember Krekorian from 2006 until 2010 when Krekorian was elected to the city council. Burgos has been on the NoHo Neighborhood Council since 2021.
District 10: Heather Hutt, currently serving in the District 10 seat after her appointment in 2022, is seeking election to her first full term. She previously served as chief of staff to former City Councilmember Herb Wesson and was a U.S. Senate state director. Hutt’s challenger, Grace Yoo, is an attorney specializing in estate planning and a Neighborhood Council member.
This seat was previously held by Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was suspended from the council after being indicted on federal bribery and conspiracy charges. Ridley-Thomas was later convicted but is appealing the outcome.
District 14: Councilmember Kevin de León is running for reelection against Ysabel Jurado, a tenant rights attorney and activist.
De León was in the California state Senate from 2010 to 2018 and before that he served in the Assembly.
A secretly recorded conversation from October 2021 captured de León in a discussion with two other council members and the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor discussing new City Council district maps. The conversation turned ugly when some of the comments – mostly uttered by then-Councilmember Nury Martinez – included racist or derogatory terms. Despite widespread calls to resign, de León has remained on the council and has apologized for not shutting down the conversation.
Meanwhile, Jurado recently found herself at the center of a controversy and drew criticism from the union representing the Los Angeles Police Department for saying “[expletive] the police” after a student asked about her position on police spending. Jurado later issued a statement saying she was quoting a lyric from a song that’s been “part of a larger conversation on system injustice and police accountability for decades.” Jurado said she is committed to public safety.
LAUSD Board of Education
District 1: Kahllid Al-Alim, a community organizer and parent, is running against Sherlett Hendy Newbill, an education policy advisor. Al-Alim sparked controversy and lost the backing of the influential United Teachers Los Angeles when his posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, were criticized as antisemitic, and reports surfaced that he followed a sexually explicit adult site. Hendy Newbill has worked for LAUSD for more than two decades and currently serves as a policy advisor for George McKenna, the District 1 LAUSD board representative who is retiring.
District 3: Incumbent board member and former principal Scott Schmerelson is competing against math teacher Daniel Chang. The two are running to represent District 3, which encompasses several neighborhoods stretching from North Hollywood to Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys and most of the West Valley.
District 5: Teachers Karla Griego and Graciela “Grace” Ortiz are competing for the open seat being vacated by longtime board member Jackie Goldberg. The candidates hold similar views and are each supported by influential labor organizations, with UTLA endorsing Griego and SEIU 99 backing Ortiz.
Ballot measures
The city of L.A. has six measures on the Nov. 5 ballot while the L.A. Unified School District has one.
L.A. City Hall has been battered by a series of political scandals in recent years. To address that, the City Council put forth a half-dozen measures, many aimed at reforming local government. Two measures, labeled DD and LL, would establish independent redistricting commissions to redraw City Council and LAUSD district maps every 10 years.
A third measure, ER, would strengthen the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission by giving it more power and authority, while a fourth, Measure FF, proposes to transfer all peace officers who work for the city’s departments into the same pension plan.
Two other measures, HH and II, represent a hodgepodge of changes to the city charter. They mainly deal with adding sections to, or clarifying sections in, the charter having to do with city governance, political appointments and elections. Other changes are intended to make city departments run more efficiently and transparently.
In addition to L.A.’s city ballot measures, voters within LAUSD boundaries will weigh in on Measure US, a proposed $9 billion school construction bond that would fund facilities’ repairs and upgrades at hundreds of schools. It’s estimated to raise annual property taxes by 2.5 cents for every $100 of a home’s assessed value.
Other city races
Burbank: Incumbent City Councilmember Konstantine Anthony and eight other candidates are running for two open seats on the City Council.
Anthony, a member of the City Council since 2020, served as mayor of Burbank from 2022 to 2023. The other candidates are Hovanes Tonoyan, a cybersecurity project manager who wants Burbank to be “the next mecca of entrepreneurship”; Chris Rizzotti, a small business owner who serves on the city planning board; John Parr, a writer, comedian and owner of a media company; Emma Pineiro, аn attorney assistant; Eddy Polon, a small business owner and former transportation commissioner; Mike Van Gorder, a housing policy analyst; Judie Wilke, a retired city of Burbank administrator; and Patricia “Trish” Suarez Nacion, a mother who has lived in Burbank for more than 25 years.
Malibu: Three City Council members hope to keep their seats but face two challengers. The top three vote-getters will win seats on the council.
Councilmember and real estate broker Paul Grisanti, Councilmember and Malibu Planning Commissioner Steve Uhring and Councilmember and attorney Bruce Lee Silverstein are challenged by Haylynn Conrad, a mother of two who wants to ease regulatory burdens. Another candidate is C. Channing Frykman, a mother whose top priorities include growing enrollment and investment in public schools.
San Fernando: Five candidates are running for two seats on the San Fernando City Council in the predominantly Latino suburb.
Mayor Celeste Rodriguez, a member of the City Council, is running for state Assembly in District 43, opening up a seat on the City Council.
The other open seat is held by Victoria Garcia, a construction attorney and Republican in a predominantly Democratic community. She is running to retain the seat she temporarily stepped into following the death of former Councilmember Cindy Montañez.
The other candidates include Sylvia Ballin, a former mayor of San Fernando; Sean M. Rivas, an educator, coach and chair of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley; and Jason D. Strickle, a prevention program coordinator for the nonprofit Pueblo y Salud.
Santa Clarita: Three candidates running for the City Council District 1 seat are Patsy Ayala, Tim Burkhart and Bryce Jepsen.
Ayala has lived in Santa Clarita for more than two decades. She worked in the California state Senate and Assembly and has served as vice chair of the Santa Clarita City Planning Commission. Burkhart worked for over 40 years at Six Flags, in supervisory and management roles across all areas of the theme and water park. Jepsen is an educator and board member of a nonprofit dedicated to promoting “an inclusive and thriving Santa Clarita.”
In District 3, Jason Gibbs ran unopposed. He has won his race and isn’t on the ballot.
West Hollywood: Two council seats will be filled on the five-member West Hollywood City Council. Councilmember and Mayor John M. Erickson is running to keep his seat. The top two vote-getters will win seats on the West Hollywood City Council.
The other West Hollywood candidates are Larry Block, a business owner; Jordan Cockeram, a business license commissioner for West Hollywood; Danny Hang who works for L.A. County; Dorian J. Jackson, who works for the city of West Hollywood; Stefanie LaHart, founder of the Boomtown Marketing; George Nickle; a public safety commissioner in West Hollywood; William West Seegmiller, radio host and founder of Free WeHo Coalition; and Zekiah “Z” Wright, a small business owner and attorney.