What’s at stake in this race

The five county supervisors hold huge power in Los Angeles County and together represent more than 10 million people. That's more residents than most U.S. states.

The supervisors steer a nearly $50 billion annual budget and determine countywide policy for jails and juvenile halls, foster care and the Sheriff's Department. The board plays a key role in regional homelessness planning and has at times come into conflict with the city of L.A.

What do L.A. County supervisors do?

• They serve as the de-facto city council of unincorporated areas of the county.
• They adopt an annual county budget.
• They create local laws, known as ordinances.
• They supervise county departments.
• They determine policy for jails, juvenile halls, foster care and the Sheriff's Department.
• They sit on the L.A. Metro Board of Directors.
• They appoint the county superintendent of schools and county Board of Education.

You might know them from

• The supervisors moved last year to stop sending hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to L.A. Homeless Services Authority — known as LAHSA — and established their own department on homelessness. It was a seismic shift, overhauling the regional approach to homelessness.
• The supervisors have ordered new transparency measures around settlements between the county and its executives after current county CEO Fesia Davenport had quietly received a $2 million payment.
• The board oversees the county's juvenile hall system, which has had a litany of scandals in recent years, including overdoses and accusations of gladiator fights. These issues led California Attorney General Rob Bonta to attempt to place the juvenile halls under state control — a move a judge has blocked for now.
• The board also oversees the troubled county jail system — and has recently voted to implement a number of changes, including asking the Sheriff's Department to fix water-quality issues.

Here are some things the Board of Supervisors doesn’t do

The supervisors have limited power in the 88 incorporated cities in L.A. County, where city councils run the show. In unincorporated communities — such as Marina del Rey, Baldwin Hills and Altadena — the supervisors act as a city council of sorts. You can find a list of all 125 unincorporated communities here.

Fast facts about the Board of Supervisors

• Major changes are in store for the Board of Supervisors. The board will expand to nine members, from the current five, by 2032. And in 2028, the board will no longer appoint the county chief executive — that will become a voter-elected office.
• Supervisors are elected to four-year terms and can hold office for a maximum of 12 consecutive years — meaning they can run again after taking a break.
• The district lines were updated in 2021.

What’s on the agenda for next term

• L.A. County faces bleak budget problems due to federal funding cuts, liabilities from systemic child sexual abuse, costs related to the Palisades and Eaton fires and more.
• Federal cuts are expected to slash $2.4 billion from county health programs over three years — so the Board of Supervisors put an initiative on the June ballot to temporarily raise sales taxes.
• The county will also head into the next fiscal year with a homelessness spending plan that includes nearly $200 million in reductions to programs and services.
• The board will continue to reckon with the ongoing immigration raids across the county. In January, the supervisors moved to designate county property as "ICE Free Zones."
• The county will keep addressing its troubled jail and juvenile halls, which have been tasked with making major changes to address concerns over health and safety.

What it takes to win

A candidate could win outright on June 2 with more than 50% of votes cast. If no candidate crosses that threshold, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff in the November general election.

The candidates for L.A. County Board of Supervisors, District 3

Four candidates are in the running to be the L.A. County supervisor for District 3, including incumbent Lindsey Horvath.

The district includes the parts of L.A. County that are still recovering from the Palisades Fire. It stretches from the Ventura County line to West Hollywood and includes parts of the San Fernando Valley.

Lindsey Horvath, incumbent

Lindsey Horvath

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Emma McIntyre

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Lindsey Horvath has been the supervisor for the Third District since 2022.

In her first term, she led an effort to pull hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority and establish a new county department on homelessness. She also pushed for coming reforms to county government through Measure G, which include electing the county CEO and expanding the board to nine members.

Horvath has been a vocal critic of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass over homelessness and the handling of the Palisades Fire. After months of speculation, Horvath announced earlier this year that she would not run for mayor of Los Angeles and would instead pursue another term on the Board of Supervisors.

Before being elected county supervisor, Horvath served two terms as mayor of West Hollywood.

In her own words

Horvath is the only renter on the Board of Supervisors and the first millennial to serve on the board. LAist asked the supervisor to answer a survey ahead of the election. Here is where she stands on key issues:

Cost of living and affordability: Horvath told LAist that as a renter, she knows rent, grocery costs and staying housed are key affordability issues. She said she's focused on rental assistance, eviction protections and free legal support "so a setback doesn’t lead to homelessness."

Horvath told LAist that she wants to build more affordable housing, especially around transit, to lower living costs and that she's focused on policies like "first right of return" and community land trusts "to prevent displacement."

She also said she wants to raise wages for workers and streamline county services, "so people can access help quickly and stay housed."

Homelessness: Horvath led the county effort to defund LAHSA and establish the Department of Homeless Services and Housing. She pointed to this as evidence of her ability to address homelessness, saying she brought "fragmented programs under one roof."

"I have taken action to fix what we all know hasn’t worked," Horvath told LAist. "We have prioritized making our homelessness response faster, more accountable and focused on results."

Horvath told LAist that her approach is focused on prevention first and a quick response to homelessness when it does occur.

LAist also asked Horvath how the county and city should work together to address homelessness. She pointed again to moving away from LAHSA, a move she said will allow the city and county to build a newer, more reliable approach.

"We must align on data, funding and strategy," Horvath said in her survey response. "That means shared metrics, coordinated outreach and a unified system."

County finances: Horvath told LAist she's focused on maintaining core county services, especially the social safety net, as the county faces serious financial challenges. She also said the county should pursue funding and partnerships.

Beyond that, Horvath said she's focused on making government more efficient and accountable, pointing to her efforts on restructuring the county's approach to homelessness and saying that the Board of Supervisors should make the budget process more transparent.

She also mentioned her support of Measure ER — a ballot initiative to raise L.A. County's general sales tax by a half-percent to help shore up the county medical system amid huge federal cuts to Medi-Cal.

Immigration: Horvath told LAist that her approach to the ongoing federal immigration sweeps across the county is to keep communities "safe and healthy." This effort, she said, should focus on making sure county services are accessible, expanding legal support and pushing back against the federal administration.

Fire recovery: The supervisor pointed to actions the Board of Supervisors has taken in response to the fires that devastated the region in 2025 — including the board's distribution of more than $50 million in financial relief and efforts to establish a rebuild authority for unincorporated areas of the county affected by the fires.

More voter resources:

• Website: https://www.lindseyhorvath.com/
• Endorsements: L.A. County Democratic Party, United Teachers Los Angeles, L.A. County Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Janice Hahn and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson
• Full endorsements list here.

Tonia Arey, real estate agent

Tonia Arey is a real estate agent who lives in Calabasas and is an outspoken critic of incumbent Lindsey Horvath. She says the Palisades Fire and its aftermath were what led her to enter the race.

Arey is part of the group Protect Calabasas, which formed to protest fire debris from the Palisades Fire being dumped in the county-owned Calabasas Landfill.

Being a vocal critic of incumbent Lindsey Horvath has won her endorsements from Alex Villanueva, a former L.A. County sheriff who clashed with the Board of Supervisors during his tumultuous term, and the California Republican Assembly.

In her own words

Arey's campaign has focused on public safety, fire recovery, homelessness and government accountability. LAist asked her to answer a survey ahead of the election. Here is where she stands on key issues:

Cost of living and affordability: Arey told LAist she wants to increase the supply of housing in the county, as well as reduce regulations on building and selling homes and speed up the permitting process.

"Government should make life more affordable — not harder," Arey wrote in LAist's candidate survey.

Arey's survey response also indicated she might not agree with the county's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. She told LAist she wants to take "a more balanced, realistic approach to reducing carbon use because high energy prices are hitting working families and seniors the hardest."

Homelessness: Arey told LAist that she opposed the county's "Housing First" model — which focuses on moving people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing. She said she doesn't see the county's new department as a solution and wants to completely overhaul the county's approach.

She said she wants to tie housing offers to unhoused people accepting "treatment and a change in behavior" and said she wants to "re-engage the criminal justice system" to respond to homelessness.

Arey also said she wants to see the city and county unify their response to homelessness and to increase accountability for the nonprofit organizations the county works with to address homelessness. She said the first thing she would do in office is order a full audit of homelessness spending across the county.

"This crisis is not unsolvable. But it requires leadership willing to admit what’s failed and strong enough to change course," she told LAist in her survey response. "I will bring that leadership."

County finances: Arey told LAist the problem isn't the steep cuts the county is facing. She instead points to spending and accountability.

"Before cutting essential services or raising taxes, we will eliminate waste, audit major departments and hold contractors accountable," Arey said.

Immigration: Arey said she would push for L.A. County to work with ICE where state law allows. She said she would focus on helping ICE remove people from county jails to reduce "the need for street enforcement."

Fire recovery: Arey told LAist that the biggest challenge fire survivors are facing is uncertainty over if and when they can rebuild. She said the Board of Supervisors should cut through red tape and fast-track permits.

More voter resources:

• Website: https://arey4supervisor.com/
• Endorsement: Former L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva
• Full endorsements list here.

Carmenlina Minasyan, reforms advocate

Carmenlina Minasyan lives in the San Fernando Valley. According to her website, she is an advocate for reform and wants to establish a new "construction department" for fire recovery and centralize homelessness services.

In her own words

Minasyan did not respond to multiple requests from LAist to share more details about her campaign and priorities.

More voter resources:

• Website: betterfuturecalifornia.com

Tomás Sidenfaden, software engineer

Tomás Sidenfaden is a startup founder who has lived in Los Angeles for 30 years. According to his campaign website, he decided to run for supervisor because of homelessness, the high cost of housing and concern about crime.

In his own words

Sidenfaden's campaign said Los Angeles is a county in crisis. He said local government has a "leadership problem," not a "money problem." LAist asked Sidenfaden to answer a survey ahead of the election. Here is where he stands on key issues:

Cost of living and affordability: Sidenfaden told LAist he's focused on building more housing to address the cost of living, including by cutting and streamlining building requirements. He also says he'll reward cities in the county that build more and look to places like Austin and Japan as models of how to encourage new housing.

Homelessness: Sidenfaden told LAist he would focus on rapidly expanding emergency shelters for unhoused people in L.A. County, and then enforce anti-camping bans once enough shelter beds are available. He said the county and city should align around that plan. "The first step is getting people indoors now," Sidenfaden said.

He criticized the county's "Housing First" model, saying it has left thousands of people on the streets without shelter. He also questioned the county's decision to defund LAHSA and create a new department on homelessness and said the Board of Supervisors should stop outsourcing programs to nonprofits.

"Simply replacing LAHSA with another bureaucracy does not solve the core problem," he said.

County finances: Sidenfaden said transparency and accountability are the county's key budget problems. He told LAist he would focus on evaluating its programs within county government rather than contracting with outside agencies.

Immigration: Sidenfaden told LAist he wants the county to cooperate with ICE and allow agents into county jails when state law allows. He told LAist he believed that approach would reduce the presence of federal agents on the streets of L.A.

Fire recovery: Sidenfaden said red tape and bureaucracy are the biggest challenge for fire survivors now and said the Board of Supervisors should focus on streamlining rebuilding permits and investing in fire prevention.

More voter resources:

• Website: http://www.tomasforla.com

Campaign finance