Good morning! It’s the second day after the midterms and — surprisingly — we’re getting a decent idea of where some local races may be headed. That said, the Associated Press still hasn’t made an official call in the race for L.A. mayor (though City Councilmember Nithya Raman’s lead continues to widen) or the billionaire’s tax measure. But we do have a key race call. Let’s lock in. 🔒

🌴 L.A. CITY MEASURES

🏠 U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 34

🗳️ EVERYTHING ELSE

Late L.A. voters, do you know where your ballot was on Tuesday night? It might have traveled via helicopter from the far corners of the county — one of the lesser-known ways that ballots routinely get delivered to the processing center on election night. Here’s the view Makenna had from one of the helipads on Tuesday.

At least four choppers landed before midnight in a parking lot just outside the ballot processing center in the city of Industry. L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials were ready and waiting, loading sealed containers of ballots into carts and cars. Election officials told us there are strict chain of custody protocols to make sure every ballot is secure and every step is documented along the way.

🌴 L.A. MAYOR 

All L.A. city measures are getting the greenlight so far

• What happened: Angelenos had a lot of measures to decide this round. So far, every single one in the city of L.A., from charter amendments to funding the fire department, has “yes” in the lead, most by wide margins. Experts told LAist they aren’t surprised by the results given the amount of public input and lack of coordinated opposition.
• Background: L.A. had six measures on the ballot tied to charter reforms that stemmed from the 2022 City Hall leaked tapes. These packages would make a lotttttt of changes to L.A.’s city charter, including upping park funding and shifting the city’s budget cycle to two years. The two other measures on the ballot came out of last year’s fires — one to temporarily cancel the so-called “mansion tax” for Palisades Fire victims who sell residential properties above $5.4 million, and the other to add fire department funding through a half-cent sales tax increase.
• Still close: Two measures have noticeably narrower margins than the rest. Measure EE, which would reduce the number of weekly City Council meetings from three to one, is at 53.7% this morning, while Measure FD, the sales tax increase, is also at 53.7%.
• When they would take effect: Measure TE, the “mansion tax” one, would apply to those who owned fire-affected homes in the Palisades as of Jan. 7, 2025, and would be in effect for five years, with recourse to get a refund if you’ve already sold. Meanwhile, the fire department’s Measure FD would take effect on April 1, 2027, and stay in place until repealed.
• Will there be more charter reforms? Likely so down the line. Diego Andrades, who served as a Charter Reform commissioner, said the results build momentum. “The charter amendment process is not finished … When they are ready, I think we will see voters pass them,” he said.

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🌴 U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 34 

Democratic socialist Angela Gonzales-Torres heads to Congress

• What happened: Newcomer Angela Gonzales-Torres, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has ousted embattled Rep. Jimmy Gomez in the race for House District 34. She thanked supporters for their trust, saying, “We took on corporate donors and corruption, and this apparent culture in Congress in which men appear to abuse their positions of power and abuse women.” The district includes downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, Boyle Heights and Eagle Rock.
• The controversy: Gomez conceded the race in an email to LAist, saying that “serving Los Angeles has been a privilege.” His reputation was tarnished earlier this year largely over a House investigation into him involving allegations of sexual misconduct with a staffer. That became fuel for Gonzales-Torres’ campaign. Gomez has denied claims that the relationship was nonconsensual but admitted to making “personal mistakes.”
• About Gonzales-Torres: Born and raised in Highland Park, she describes herself as a working-class Angeleno. Her political experience includes serving as president on the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council and being a regional representative on Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee. Gonzales-Torres is the daughter of a deportee and took part in a pro-Palestinian encampment when she was a UCLA student in 2024. She refused to take money from special interests, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
• Looking ahead: Aside from leveraging the allegations against Gomez, Gonzales-Torres focused her campaign on affordability, supporting workers and getting money out of politics. Among her goals, Gonzales-Torres wants to establish paid family leave nationally, expand housing vouchers and launch a guaranteed basic income pilot in her district.

🗳️ EVERYTHING ELSE

What else got called

• 🏠 House District 38: L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis is leaving the First District for Congress. She’s a Democrat who’s no stranger to national politics — between 2001 and 2013, you may recall Solis was a House representative and Secretary of Labor under President Barack Obama. She’s secured two-thirds of the vote so far over Republican Pedro ‘Antonio’ Casas.
• 🏠 House Districts 45 and 47: You may remember these races from 2024 because they were both swing districts. This round, they’re staying blue partially because of California’s temporary redistricting under Prop. 50 to create a stronger Democratic edge. Incumbent Democrat Derek Tran sailed to victory in District 45. He wrote on social media that “Orange and L.A. counties made it even clearer — they want leadership that cares about them.” Over in District 47, Democratic Rep. Dave Min, who was also reelected in Orange County by a wide margin, said on Instagram that his win and that of other Democrats is a “repudiation of Donald Trump and his Republican rubber stamps.”
• 🏠 House District 48: Down in Riverside and San Diego counties, Marni von Wilpert flipped another district for Democrats, adding onto what’s been described as a “blue tsunami.” Von Wilpert, a San Diego City Councilmember, has a nearly 20% lead over Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County Supervisor. Von Wilpert claimed victory on social media, but Desmond wasn’t calling it quits yet.
• 🥑 Proposition 3: The higher income tax rates for the state’s richest earners no longer has an expiration date. And when we say richest earners, we mean the top 2% of taxpayers — single individuals who make more than $371,000, and joint filers who make more than $743,000 a year. Supporters of Prop. 3 argued that losing the annual tax revenue would be devastating for public schools, students and educators.

🗳️ EVERYTHING ELSE

Looking likely …

• 🍊 Newport Beach’s Measure H: Voters seem to be nixing the measure to replace the city’s state-approved housing plan with one that substantially decreases the number of homes that could be built. It currently stands at 67.3% “no.” It’s tied to Newport Beach’s years-long battle over housing density.
• 🍊 Santa Ana’s Measure N: The city’s 1.5% sales tax increase, passed in 2018, is likely to become permanent with Measure N passing by a margin of about 2 to 1. Instead of the current rate dropping to 1% in a couple years and disappearing altogether a decade later, the sales tax would stay the same until voters say otherwise. We’ll dive deeper into all the fun tax measures around the region later this week, so stay tuned.
• 🌴 Culver City Measure YV: Should 16- and 17-year-olds be allowed to vote in local elections? So far, Culver City voters are saying “no” to the ballot proposition by a roughly 10-point margin. The state proposed a somewhat similar idea in 2020 with Proposition 18 , which would’ve paved the way for some 17-year-olds to vote in primary and special elections. Teen voting isn’t new to California — Oakland, Albany and Berkeley allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in this year’s school board elections.

🗳️ EVERYTHING ELSE

👀 We’re still watching 👀

• 🏠 U.S. House District 40: Two Republicans are vying to represent parts of Orange and Riverside counties, with Ken Calvert (54.4%) leading by less than 10 points ahead of Young Kim (45.6%). This district was redrawn under California’s new congressional maps — pitting Calvert, a more than 30-year veteran of the House, against the incumbent Kim. Calvert said on social media Wednesday that “early results give us a significant lead that I believe will hold as more ballots are counted.”
• 🌴 L.A. City Council Districts 3 and 9: Both races to replace termed-out incumbents are too close to call at this point. Jose Ugarte (53%) has a slightly stronger lead over Estuardo Mazariegos (46.97%) in District 9. In District 3, Barri Worth Girvan (50.2%) overtook Timothy Gaspar (49.8%) this morning by 230 votes.
• 🍊 Irvine’s Measure D: This one is still a close race, but the yays lead with 51.5%. If passed, the measure would switch Irvine’s elections for mayor and city council from plurality voting to ranked-choice voting. A small but growing number of cities already use the system in California and it’s credited with helping New York’s Zohran Mamdani win his election.
• 🌴 Inglewood mayor: This election isn’t over quite yet. The top two vote-getters are looking like they’ll be headed to a runoff if none of the six candidates reaches 50% of the vote. Gloria Gray (32.3%), an Inglewood city councilmember, is several hundred votes ahead of 15-year incumbent mayor James Butts (28.66%).

📰 Catch up quick

If this is your first day getting Make It Make Sense, you can read yesterday’s issue here, which featured the governor’s race going to Xavier Becerra and the failure of California’s voter ID measure.

Otherwise, you can keep up with the results here:

• L.A. County
• Orange County