While Los Angeles mayor is the marquee race and has already generated plenty of drama, with surprises coming down to the wire of last Saturday’s filing deadline, many other seats will also be contested in the June 2 primary.
A host of candidates arrived at the City Clerk’s Office last week to file paperwork to run for city attorney, city controller, eight City Council seats and two L.A. Unified school board seats.
Some may not get on the ballot — each candidate must gather 500 legitimate voter signatures by March 4, which is relatively easy in citywide races but harder in council and school board districts. In each race, if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in June, the top two finishers will compete in a November runoff.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is facing three challengers — deputy attorney general Marissa Roy, human rights attorney Aida Ashouri and Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia has one opponent — Zach Sokoloff, senior vice president for asset management at studio owner Hackman Capital Partners, after former State Sen. Isadore Hall dropped out.
In District 3, which covers the southwestern San Fernando Valley including Woodland Hills, Tarzana and Reseda, City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield is terming out, leaving the field open.
The five candidates hoping to replace him are Jon Rawlings, a member of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council; Timothy Gaspar, founder of Gaspar Insurance; Lehi White, a small-business owner; Barri Worth Girvan, former director of community affairs for L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath; and media executive Christopher Robert “C.R.” Celona.
City Councilmember Curren Price’s downtown and South L.A. district is also up for grabs. Twelve candidates, including Price’s Deputy Chief of Staff Jose Ugarte, have entered the race to represent District 9 after he terms out.
Price is facing public corruption charges and was ordered last month to stand trial.
In addition to Ugarte, the candidates are Estuardo Mazariegos, co-director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment; Jo Uraizee, a social worker; Adriana Cabrera, president of the Central Alameda Neighborhood Council; Jorge Nuño, a social entrepreneur; Martha Sánchez, a professor at Los Angeles Mission College and a therapist; Elmer Roldan, executive director of Communities in Schools of Los Angeles; Michelle Washington, a social worker; Jorge Hernandez Rosas, an educator and therapist; Chris Martin, a civil rights attorney; Enrique Hernandez-Garcia, a college student; and Nathan Juarez, a cashier.
In the other five City Council races, challengers will try to unseat incumbents.
Eight people are seeking to oust Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez to represent District 1, which stretches from Glassell Park and Highland Park to Chinatown and Pico Union.
The District 1 challengers who filed last week are Maria Lou Calanche, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission and founder of the nonprofit Legacy LA; Raul Claros, founder of the CD1 Coalition, which organizes community cleanup days; Jesse Rosas, a tax preparer and businessman; Joseph Lucey, a businessman; Nelson Grande, an executive consultant and former president of Avenida Entertainment Group; Sylvia Robledo, a small-business owner and former council aide; Rosa Requeno, a community activist; and Annalee Harr.
In District 5, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky is defending her seat against six Angelenos who filed paperwork last week in hopes of representing a West L.A. district that includes Bel-Air, Westwood and Hancock Park.
Her challengers are publicist Dory Frank; Ashkan “Alex’’ Nazarian, co-founder of AAA Diamond and Jewelry; city employee Peter Gerard Kearns; real estate professional Eddie Ha; tenant rights attorney Henry Mantel; and small-business accountant Morgan Oyler.
In the northeastern San Fernando Valley, four challengers are looking to take the reins from Councilmember Monica Rodriguez and represent District 7 — regional recruiting manager Tony Rodriguez (no relation), hospitality worker Michael Daniel Ebenkamp, worker advocate Ernesto Ayala and business owner Daniel Lerma.
In the 11th District, Councilmember Traci Park faces Faizah Malik, a civil rights attorney, and Jeremy Wineberg, an entrepreneur and Pacific Palisades resident, in the contest to represent Westside communities including Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Venice.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez in the 13th District, which includes Hollywood and East Hollywood as well as parts of Silver Lake, Echo Park and Westlake, has seven challengers — military veteran Gilbert Vitela Jr.; Rich Sarian, an urban community planner and vice president of strategic initiatives for the Social District; Dylan Kendall, an entrepreneur and founder of Grow Hollywood; Colter Carlisle, vice president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council; community safety advocate Sebastian Davis; creative director Kristen Suszek; and district improvement advocate Gregory Downer.
In the 15th District, which includes San Pedro and other harbor-area communities as well as Watts, Councilmember Tim McOsker is running against two challengers — community organizer Jordan Rivers and homeless shelter director Phillip Crouch Jr.
Three Los Angeles Unified school board members will defend their seats in the June 2 primary.
In District 2, Rocío Rivas faces challenges from public school teacher Raquel Zamora and executive and education advocate Joseph Quintana.
District 4 incumbent Nick Melvoin will run against Ankur Patel, a teacher and outreach director, and Benjamin-Shalom “Bo” Rodriguez, an educator, artist and professor.
School Board Member Kelly Gonez faces a single challenger for her District 6 seat — retired aerospace engineer John “J.P.” Perron.
City News Service contributed to this report.
