LA County Board Of Supervisors: Mitchell Wins, Securing 1st All-Woman Board

State Senator Holly Mitchell has defeated City Councilman Herb Wesson for a seat on the powerful L.A. County Board of Supervisors. Mitchell was congratulated by the county's acting CEO, Fesia Davenport, and Mitchell reportedly received a call from Wesson conceding the race.

Mitchell's victory means the five-member Board of Supervisors will for the first time in history be comprised of women.

What's At Stake

Two of the most well-known Black politicians in Southern California are vying to represent an area with deep African American roots -- though this district's demographics have shifted to be majority-Latino in the last few decades.

The stakes here are massive. Dubbed "Little Kings" and "Queens," members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors are some of the most powerful local elected officials in the country, and reelection has historically been all but assured for sitting Supervisors. Each of five Supervisors represents roughly 2 million residents and helps oversee a roughly $35 billion budget.

• Holly Mitchell is a State Senator for California's 30th district, and formerly a member of the State Assembly. Before running for office, Mitchell was CEO of the child and family development nonprofit Crystal Stairs. (Read Mitchell's full bio on her campaign website.)

• Herb Wesson has represented District 10 on the L.A. City Council since 2005, and served as council president for eight years. He previously served as Speaker of the state Assembly. (Read Wesson's full bio on his campaign website.)

(

Courtesy LA County

)

The 2nd Supervisorial District includes roughly 2 million residents in cities such as Carson, Compton, Culver City and Inglewood; all or part of L.A. neighborhoods including Crenshaw, Koreatown, La Brea, and Mar Vista; and other unincorporated areas of the county.

Latinos make up the majority of registered voters in the district, followed by African Americans.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has represented the area on the Board of Supervisors for 12 years. He is termed out and running for Los Angeles City Council, the seat Wesson is leaving due to term limits.

A Note On The Results

• Polls closed on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
• The first results released included early voting, including mail-in ballots received before election day. In the past, local election officials have said all votes received and processed by the day before the election (in this case, Monday Nov. 2) are included in the first count. However, the high volume of mail-in ballots may mean that's not the case this election.
• Keep in mind that in tight races particularly, the outcome may not be determined for some time.
• In California, ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 3 may be counted toward the results as long as they arrive within 17 days of the election.
• Results are finalized by county election officials 30 days after election day.

How We Are Covering This Election

The unprecedented number of early voters and mail-in ballots this election means it's going to take more time to get votes counted. Our priority will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted. To that end, we will rely on NPR and The Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more on NPR and The AP's process for counting votes and calling races here, here and here.