Wave Staff and Wire Reports
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Eight days after election night, there is no definitive winner in the race to replace Curren Price as the 9th District city councilman.
Jose Ugarte, a former aide to Price lead Estuardo Mazariegos by more than 2,400 votes on election night, but Mazariegos has chipped away at that lead and Ugarte now holds a 156-vote as of Nov. 10, according to the latest figures released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office.
Ugarte leads 50.20%-49.80%, or 19,200-19,044, according to the latest numbers.
Ugarte had led by 286 votes Nov. 9, 346 votes Nov. 8 and 1,271 votes Nov. 6.
He led 57.51%-42.49%, 9,400-6,945, shortly after the polls closed Nov. 3.
County officials estimate 37,500 outstanding ballots countywide remain to be processed and counted. It was unknown how many ballots were from the district.
Mazariegos and Ugarte are vying to succeed City Councilman Curren Price — who is termed out — as the representative for the district, which stretches from downtown Los Angeles to South Los Angeles.
Ugarte is a former deputy chief of staff to Price. Mazariegos is a co-director of the Los Angeles chapter of the nonprofit organization Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.
Mazariegos made government accountability a central part of his campaign. He said that if elected he would seek greater scrutiny of city contracts, particularly money directed toward homelessness services, and establish what he called a “co-governance structure” bringing community leaders and interest groups into regular meetings with the council office.
Ugarte said he wants to work with Black churches facing declining congregations and development pressures and preserve cultural events including the Central Avenue Jazz Festival and Kingdom Day Parade.
Ugarte finished first in the June primary with nearly 40% of the vote. Mazariegos received about 26% of the vote in June and has been closing the gap ever since.
The winner will be the first Latino to represent the district since Edward Roybal resigned in 1962 to take a seat in the House of Representatives. All the council members to represent the district since then have been Black.
JUMPHEAD
156 votes separate 9th Council District candidates
