🌴 L.A. CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3

🌴 L.A. CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 9

🥑 CALIFORNIA STATE PROPOSITIONS

🗳️ EVERYTHING ELSE

Is there a race or ballot measure in your neighborhood that’s been catching your eye? Maybe because it shakes up the balance of power or brings about a big change in your city? We want to hear about it! We’ll be taking a look at some notable contests in Southern California’s smaller cities for an upcoming issue, and we want to know what you’re interested in including. You can respond directly to this email to let us know.

 🌴 L.A. CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3

Barri Worth Girvan makes a comeback to win the race

• What happened: Barri Worth Girvan will soon represent the southwestern San Fernando Valley in City Hall. Worth Girvan, a Valley community advocate, was initially behind entrepreneur Tim Gaspar when polls closed. But she continued to pick up steam in the days following, eventually overtaking Gaspar by a 3-point margin.
• Background: This was a race to replace incumbent Bob Blumenfield, who is terming out. The district includes Woodland Hills, Winnetka and Reseda, and voters here have historically sent centrist Democrats and Republicans to the city council on their behalf. She will be one of two new faces to the L.A. City Council, along with the winning candidate for District 9.
• What the candidates had to say:
  • Worth Girvan claimed victory Friday, writing on social media that the voters of the West Valley have spoken and “I am deeply honored, humbled, and grateful to be your next representative on the Los Angeles City Council.”
  • Gaspar conceded the race this weekend, saying on social media that he wishes Worth Girvan the best of luck in taking on this responsibility. “This campaign may be ending, but my commitment to the Valley is not. This has always been my community, and I will continue fighting for safer neighborhoods, thriving small businesses, and practical solutions that serve all the people who live here.”
• How she’ll handle the role: Worth Girvan has a background in various government offices, and she has said she would use the relationships she’s built in the city, county and state to better serve the district. On homelessness, she has said she would use the city’s anti-camping ordinance, 41.18 , in sensitive areas and would look for more involvement from the county to move unhoused people into shelter and permanent housing. She said in a statement Friday that she will bring “competence, transparency, follow-through, and ethical leadership to City Hall.”

 🌴 L.A. CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 9

A nail-biter for the too-close-to-call candidates

• What’s happening: Jose Ugarte’s early strong lead over Estuardo Mazariegos has dwindled to just about 350 votes, putting this race in potential flipping territory. Both candidates are vying to replace termed-out incumbent Curren Price in South L.A.

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 🥑 CALIFORNIA STATE PROPOSITIONS

All of these props have failed

• 🥑 Prop. 41: This is one of the measures designed to kill the billionaire’s tax, but after consistently trailing since Election Day, it’s officially failed, with “no” votes at 54.6%. It would have required new special tax proposals to be reviewed by the state auditor, giving them an extra hurdle before making the ballot. It would also have banned new state taxes from being exempt from the state’s spending limit.
• 🥑 Prop. 43: Tax proposals for you, and you, and YOU! This measure that would have made it harder to create and raise certain local taxes proposed by citizens is officially defeated. “No” stands at 57% as of this morning. That means the status quo stays — special local taxes proposed by local governments need to pass with a two-thirds vote but those proposed by citizens only need a simple majority.
• 🥑 Prop. 45: This proposal to limit environmental reviews for certain projects, such as housing and infrastructure, by cutting the time it takes to go through the state’s evaluation process has failed (55.9%). The No on Prop 45 campaign claimed victory, saying in a statement that “Californians have sent a clear message to corporate developers, utilities and data center builders that they will not stand for a broad assault at the ballot box on state law protecting our air, water and natural resources.”

🗳️ EVERYTHING ELSE

👀 We’re still watching ... 👀

• 🍊 O.C. Supervisors Districts 4 and 5: No concessions came in over the weekend, so these races are still in play. In District 4, Buena Park mayor Connor Traut (51.3%) leads the race over O.C. school board member Tim Shaw (48.7%), while in District 5, incumbent Katrina Foley (52%) remains ahead of State Assembly member Diane Dixon (48%).
• 🏠 U.S. Congressional District 40: The race between two Republican sitting members of Congress continues on. Rep. Ken Calvert (53.8%) leads Rep. Young Kim (46.2%).
• 🥑 Prop. 4: The votes have steadily converged since election night and are now at a razor-thin margin, with “no” ahead by less than 1 percentage point. This race may flip, but if the “no” majority holds, the ban on state and certain local governments from using tax dollars to fund political campaigns will continue.
• 🥑 Prop. 5: California is looking like it’ll revamp how it replaces state officials being recalled. The lead has gradually ticked up (51.9%) in recent days in support of the measure put up by the state legislature. If it stays on track to pass, we’d no longer vote on a recall and a replacement in the same election, instead punting a successor to a separate ballot (and the recalled official could re-run!) or allowing the governor to appoint non-legislative positions.
• 🥑 Prop. 38: The proposition saw a slight dip in support (54.3%) but is still on its way to passing with a roughly 9-point margin. It would let the state borrow $8.4 billion in bonds for immunology research, but the proposal has been somewhat controversial. Opponents argue that half the money would be funneled to just one research group, while supporters say it could help develop treatments for cancer or heart disease, among others.
• 🥑 Props. 40 and 42: No, the billionaire’s tax measure is still not called (“no” is leading at 53.2%), nor is the measure designed to kill it and prevent future wealth taxes (“yes” leading at 52%).
• 🥑 State Assembly District 72: Democrat Chris Kluwe, a former NFL player, is up against Republican Gracey Van Der Mark, a councilmember and former mayor of Huntington Beach, in this super tight race to represent coastal O.C. communities. Kluwe, who got arrested and said he was fired from his coaching job last year for protesting against MAGA at a Huntington Beach City Council meeting, is a hair behind (49.6%).
• 🥑 State Senate District 36: Incumbent Republican Tony Strickland has been fighting for his life in returns in a tight race against Democrat Chris Duncan that’s separated by just around 5,000 votes. You may remember Strickland from his time on the Huntington Beach City Council, where he was outspoken against the state’s requirements for new housing in the city.

Tomorrow, Nov. 10, is the deadline for mail-in ballots to arrive, but don’t expect things to wrap up too quickly. The counting will get slower this week as voters with mismatched signatures begin receiving notices to fix their signatures for their ballots to be counted. You can check on the status of your ballot via the state’s BallotTrax system.

📰 Catch up quick

Get caught up on our past issues here:

• Nov. 7: A progressive becomes CA’s insurance head
• Nov. 6: The L.A. city attorney race comes to a close
• Nov. 5: Nithya Raman wins the L.A. mayor’s race
• Nov. 5: All 8 L.A. city measures could pass
• Nov. 4: We’ve got a new governor, plus voter ID fails

Otherwise, you can keep up with the results here:

• L.A. County
• Orange County