About the vote count
As you watch these results, keep in mind:
- As of Friday, Nov. 15, L.A. election officials said more than 3.73 million ballots had been returned so far.
- An estimated 79,400 remained to be counted.
- There are more than 5.7 million registered voters in L.A. County
- 2.1 million of those registered votes live in the City of L.A.
Get full results:
Keep in mind that in tight races the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after Election Day. This is normal. Here's why.
In L.A. County, additional results, which includes mail-in votes received on or after Election Day as well as provisional ballots, will be released following this schedule:
Mon, Nov. 18 | Tues, Nov. 19 | Fri, Nov. 22 | Tues, Nov. 26
In California, ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 5 are counted toward the results as long as they arrive within seven days of the election. County election officials must certify the results by Dec. 5, and the California Secretary of State's Office must certify the statewide vote by Dec. 13.
What is at stake in this race
The seven members of the L.A. Unified’s board oversee the nation’s second-largest school district, with more than 538,000 students enrolled. The district is also the county’s second-largest employer with more than 74,000 educators, administrators, and support staff on its payroll.
The winning candidate represents West San Fernando Valley and Studio City on the school board.
Why this race mattered
The Board District 3 race pitted an incumbent against a challenger with a lot more money behind him.
Incumbent Scott Schmerelson is a member of the Los Angeles Unified School Board and its current vice president. He has represented Board District 3 since 2014 and is a former Spanish teacher and principal. Schmerelson won reelection in 2020 despite the California Charter Schools Association spending more than $6.3 million to unseat him.
Challenger Dan Chang is a math teacher at James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood. Chang previously founded organizations that raised money for LAUSD programs and school board candidates. Chang’s first education-related job was at a charter school management organization and he previously led the board of directors for two San Fernando Valley charter schools.
The candidates diverged the most when discussing how the district should handle independently run charter schools. Schmerelson supports limiting their access to traditional public school campuses in high-needs communities while Chang says co-locations benefit students and families from either school.
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Scott Schmerelson was unanimously elected Tuesday to lead the LAUSD board after defeating a well-funded challenger in November’s election. -
Nguyen was able to take office weeks early to fill the vacancy caused Do’s resignation. -
Nathan Hochman succeeds George Gascón, known as the godfather of progressive prosecutors.
Follow the money
Go deeper
- What does the LAUSD School Board do?
- Teachers unions often pick winning school board candidates. Will this LAUSD election be different?
Senior editor Ross Brenneman contributed to this story.
