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Angelenos headed to the polls again on Tuesday with runoffs for two different L.A. City Council district seats, two L.A. Unified School District board seats, and Measure C, a contested police discipline reform measure, up for grabs.
We'll be updating as the night goes on, but here's where we are at so far. You can check up-to-the-minute-ish results on the City Clerk's site here.
As of 10:15 p.m., early results show incumbent Councilman Gil Cedillo with a considerable lead over bike activist/frequent internet commenter Joe Bray-Ali in the District 1 City Council race. With about 38% of Council District 1 ballots counted, Cedillo currently has 67.75% of the vote, compared to Bray-Ali's 32.24% share.
Things are looking far closer in the Council District 7 race, with Karo Torossian and Monica Rodriguez currently neck-and-neck in the race to represent the northeast San Fernando Valley. There is no incumbent in that runoff; the candidates are vying to fill the seat vacated when former Councilman Felipe Fuentes abruptly jumped ship ten months before his term ended to, uh, become a lobbyist. So far, only vote-by-mail ballots have been counted for CD 7, and the two candidates are basically even, with Torossian carrying 50.62% of the vote and Rodriguez pulling in 49.37%.
Measure C, the police discipline reform measure opposed by the ACLU, Black Lives Matter and the L.A. Times, currently looks slated to pass, with about 61.56% in the Yes column.
Update [11:10 p.m.]: With more than half of the CD 1 vote tabulated, Cedillo's already considerable lead has inched up. He now has 68.38% of the vote to Bray-Ali's 31.61%. Meanwhile, things are extremely close in the CD 7 race, where just under 16% of ballots have been counted. Both candidates remain neck-and-neck—but they've reversed positions. Rodriguez is now up, 50.4% of the vote to Torossian's 49.59% share.
Measure C still looks like it will pass; it currently has support from 61.18% of voters.
Update [11:55 p.m.]: The L.A. Times has called the CD 1 race for incumbent Gil Cedillo. With 91% of precincts reporting, Cedillo has a more than two-to-one lead over Bray-Ali (Cedillo currently has 70.50% of the vote, to Bray-Ali's 29.49%). Rodriguez and Torossian are still neck-and-neck for the CD 7 seat, although Rodriguez has picked up a few more votes, edging up to 50.8% (she was at 50.4% an hour ago). A mere 163 votes currently separates the candidates.
Monica Rodriguez. (Photo courtesy of Monica Rodriguez via Flickr)
Update [12:50 a.m.] With 99.92% of all City of Los Angeles precincts reporting, Measure C looks to have passed with 57% of the vote. Critics have said that the measure will weaken the LAPD's disciplinary system.
Monica Rodriguez also looks to be emerging victorious in the tight battle for the District 7 council seat. She currently has 52.97% of the vote with 100% of CD 7 precincts reporting, giving her a solid 833 vote lead over Torossian.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Monica Rodriguez has won in District 7, with 52.9% of the vote.
— Dakota Smith (@dakotacdsmith) May 17, 2017
Rodriguez, a former Public Works commissioner who has previously worked as a police advisor and deputy for LAUSD board member Caprice Young's office, garnered 29.56% of the vote in the March election. Rodriguez received the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in January 2017.
The election results remain unofficial, pending a tally of late absentee and provisional ballots, according to the Times.
With additional reporting by Emma Specter.
