Mayor. Eric Garcetti will be L.A.’s youngest mayor in more than a century.
With every precinct in the city reporting, the 42-year-old City Councilman has 54 percent of the vote, to 46 percent for City Controller Wendy Greuel. Greuel called Garcetti to concede around 2 this morning, and she’ll make it official later today.
The mayoral race generated a record $33 million in spending and dragged on for nearly two years. Despite that, turnout was very low, perhaps under 30 percent.
Raphael Sonenshien of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A. says the race “never really grasped the imagination of the voters. It’s also part of a long-term trend of declining turnout in L.A. City elections. It’s got to be disturbing to people who like good government.”
But the fact that many Angelenos didn’t go to the polls was not weighing heavily on Garcetti’s mind last night. He told jubilant supporters at the Hollywood Palladium that as mayor he intends to focus on education, public safety and the economy.
Garcetti – who will be the city’s first Jewish mayor – takes office in July, replacing the termed out Antonio Villaraigosa. L.A. Times
City Attorney. Voters delivered a stinging defeat to the incumbent, Carmen Trturanich in the city attorney’s contest. Former Assemblyman and City Councilman Mike Feuer beat Trutanich 62 percent to 38 percent. Trutanich may have alienated voters with his combative style, and by running for District Attorney last year after initially promising not to. L.A. Daily News
City Controller. Lawyer and businessman Ron Galperin pulled off a surprise win in the city controller’s race. And it wasn’t close. Galperin beat City Councilman Dennis Zine by more than 12 percentage points. L.A. Times
City Council. In the city council races, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo won 52 percent of the vote in a runoff battle with Jose Gardea in the 1st District. State Senator Curren Price picked up 52 percent of the vote to take the race for South L.A.’s 9th district over Ana Cubas. One-time Garcetti aide Mitch O’Farrell defeated John Choi in the battle for Garcetti’s 13th District seat. And Cindy Montanez and Nury Martinez were the top two finishers in a special primary election for the District 6 San Fernando Valley seat vacated by Congressman Tony Cardenas. The winner of that race will be the only woman on the City Council. L.A. Times
Medical marijuana. There were three proposed ordinances on yesterday’s ballot, dealing with regulating medicinal marijuana. Voters approved the one supported by the L.A. City Council and rejected the other two. Proposition D will reduce the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city of L.A, to 135 and hike the tax on marijuana purchases. L.A. Daily News
Citizen’s United. L.A. voters have sent a symbolic but unambiguous message about unlimited corporate campaign spending. Voters approved Proposition C by more than a 3-1 margin. The resolution instructs local officials to promote efforts to overturn The U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision. The 2010 court ruling said that corporate spending on political campaigns was protected by the First Amendment. A similar measure is working its way through the state Legislature. Huffington Post