March 5 Election Results: Pitiful Voter Turnout, Runoff for Mayor, Incumbents Sit Pretty

With a mere 16 percent voter turnout for yesterday's primary election in Los Angeles, the major office on the ticket is headed for a runoff, while some other seats were decidedly filled.

In the race for Mayor of Los Angeles, City Councilman Eric Garcetti drew 32.93% of the vote, with City Controller Wendy Greuel taking 29.19%. They will face each other in a runoff in May. Pulling in behind the frontrunners were Kevin James and Jan Perry in third and fourth places, respectively.

It was an easy win for Bill Rosendahl's seat on the City Council. The outgoing councilman from district 11 will be replaced by his Chief of Staff, Mike Bonin, who drew over 60% of the vote, trouncing his competition.

In the West Valley race to fill termed-out Dennis Zine's 3rd District council seat, Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys), finished just above the 50 percent mark to avoid a runoff, summarizes City News Service. Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Arleta), also appeared to earn just enough votes to claim the 7th District seat representing the northeast San Fernando Valley -- a seat being vacated by termed-out Richard Alarcon.

Incumbent Paul Koretz handily maintained his CD 5 seat, with over 70% of the vote, while Joe Buscaino in CD 15 got a whopping 83%, easily keeping his seat on the council.

Things are a bit more muddled in other council districts. To replace a termed-out Ed Reyes in CD 1, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) appears to be headed to a May 21 runoff against Jose Gardea, Reyes' longtime Chief of Staff.

Sen. Curren Price (D-Los Angeles) will advance to the runoff in the race to replace unsuccessful mayoral candidate Jan Perry in CD 9. He will face off with Ana Cubas, Councilman Jose Huizar's former Chief of Staff.

In one of the most crowded fields over in CD 13, where Eric Garcetti has stepped down to run for mayor, of the 12 candidates, two will advance to the runoff: Mitch O'Farrell, co-founder of the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council and president of the neighborhood's park improvement organization, and John Choi, a former Public Works commissioner and economic development director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. O'Farrell drew 18% of the vote, while Choi drew 16%.

Over in the LAUSD, Steve Zimmer and Monica Garcia both retained their seats on the board, but Antonio Sanchez, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's former personal assistant, and fifth-grade teacher Monica Ratliff will face each other in the runoff to fill the seat being vacated by Nury Martinez, who is going to run for City Council.

Lastly, 10 candidates were vying for three seats on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. For Seat 2, termed-out Assemblyman Mike Eng easily defeated retired accounting professor John C. Burke, while Ernest Moreno, retired president of East Los Angeles and L.A. Mission colleges, handily defeated real estate broker Jozef Essavi for Seat 4.

Seat 6 incumbent Nancy Pearlman will be heading for a runoff election in her bid to retain her seat. She will square off with top vote-getter David Vela, a member of the Montebello Unified School District Board of Education.

Two measures on the ballot were decided, one was a yes, one was a no. Proposition A, which would have raised our sales tax a half-cent in L.A. in order to fund public safety, was defeated, while Charter Amendment B, which has no public fiscal impact, passed.

You can see all of the City of L.A. election results here.