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Map of the 26th State Senate District | Think you live in this district? Check here
It's an election that's not much talked about. Next Tuesday, voters of the 26th State Senate district (map) will go to the polls and choose one of eight candidates to take the seat once held by the now County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. That means residents from Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake to South LA and Culver City are all called back to the polls twice in the same month. "Just two freakin’ days after this last election — I find yet another official sample ballot," huffed Will Campbell at Metblogs. "Owing to how only a whopping 15% of those voters registered bothered to cast ballots Tuesday, I get the feeling this race might literally be decided by one of the eight candidates’ mothers."
But considering the extremely low turnout expected for this election--because, come on, how many of you actually know what a State Senator does for you?--a small constituency can change the outcome. 368,779 people are registered to vote in the district.
For Chal Pivik at Metblogs, this is about Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California. His choice is State Assemblymember Curren Price, who co-authored a resolution to overturn Prop 8. "And surprise, hipsters and Hollywood liberal elite! Your neighbors in District 26 overwhelmingly voted YES ON PROP 8, which denied same-sex couples the right to marry."
But Price, who is considered the front runner by many, has raised the most money and recently moved to the district, has been criticized for taking special interest money.
Next Tuesday's vote is a primary, meaning if no one candidate wins by a simple majority, a run-off will take place on the statewide May 19th ballot. If you're not sure if you live in the 26th District or not, you can check here.
