Wave Staff Report
LOS ANGELES — Voters have until June 2 to cast their ballots in the state primary election and Los Angeles Municipal Election.
Mayor Karen Bass is facing a touch reelection fight to serve a second term as mayor and voters in the 9th Council District in South Los Angeles will be electing a new councilman because Councilman Curren Price has served the maximum three terms and can’t seek reelection.
City Council races are being contested in seven odd-numbered districts, with Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez in District 7 the only incumbent to avoid competition this year. Voters also will be choosing candidates for city attorney and city attorney.
Bass is facing 13 challengers on the ballot for mayor. They include 4th District City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, community advocate Spencer Pratt, community advocate Rae Huang and nonprofit executive Adam Miller.
Also on the ballot are political scientist Juanita Lopez, neighborhood council member John Logsdon, musician an entrepreneur Tish Hyman, behavioral interventionist Nelson Cheng, technical architect Andrei Selivra, city engineer Asaad Alnajjar, creative officer Bryant Acosta, mental health professional Suzy Kim and attorney Andrew Kim.
Seeking to replace Price in the 9th District are his former aide Jose Ugarte, community organization leader Estuardo Mazariegos, nonprofit director Elmer Roldan, educator and therapist Jorge Rosas, social entrepreneur Jorge Nuño and therapist Martha Sanchez.
Incumbent City Controller Kenneth Mejia is facing a challenger in financial accounting executive Zach Sokoloff and incumbent City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is facing three challengers: deputy district attorney John McKinney, deputy attorney general Marissa Roy and human rights attorney Aida Ashouri.
Mejia and Feldstein Soto are both in their first term.
Municipal elections also are being held in Compton, Inglewood and several other area cities.
The statewide ballot features 61 candidates for governor as well as seven other statewide offices, including lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, controller, insurance commissioner and superintendent of public instruction.
The top contenders in the governor’s race include billionaire climate advocate Tom Steyer, San Jose Mayor Mike Mahan, former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, all Democrats; and Republicans Steve Hilton, a small business owner; and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Voters also will be choosing congressional and state Assembly representatives.
A county ballot measure that would increase sales taxes by half a cent to reduce the loss of essential services including health care from federal budget cuts, County Measure ER, also is on the ballot.
Any candidate who doesn’t receive more than 50% of the vote will face a November runoff against the second highest vote-getter.
In-person voting began May 22 at 122 vote centers in Los Angeles County. Vote centers will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for in-person voting and vote-by-mail ballot returns. The election centers will be open until 8 p.m. on election day.
A list and map of vote center locations are available at locator.lavote.gov.
