One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
LAUSD District 7: What We Know So Far
RESULTS: EARLY RETURNS
(As of 11:58 p.m. Tuesday)
Keep in mind that even after all precincts have been counted, there will still be ballots to count. In some cases, it could be weeks before the official outcome is clear.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Silke Bradford | 2,819 | 9.68% |
| Patricia Castellanos | 6,809 | 23.37% |
| Tanya Ortiz Franklin | 6,465 | 22.19% |
| Lydia Gutiérrez | 6,011 | 20.64% |
| Mike Lansing | 7,026 | 24.12% |
* incumbent
(Courtesy of LAUSD)
For more than a decade, District 7 has been home to the Los Angeles Unified School Board’s “swing vote”: Richard Vladovic.
Sponsored message
Since first winning the seat in 2007, Vladovic has won endorsements from groups on both sides of LAUSD’s charter school debate. His voting record defies easy characterization as either friend or foe of the teachers' union.
But Vladovic is now termed out — and five candidates are running in Tuesday’s primary to take his seat, which covers an area from South L.A. into the Harbor communities:
- Patricia Castellanos, a labor activist who founded the group Reclaim our Schools L.A., has the backing of United Teachers Los Angeles. The teachers' union has spent almost $800,000 to boost her candidacy.
- Tanya Ortiz Franklin works at the Partnership for L.A. Schools. Her campaign has benefited from more than $1.3 million in independent expenditures by pro-charter school philanthropist Bill Bloomfield.
- Mike Lansing — who’s running to reclaim an LAUSD board seat he held from 1999 to 2007 — leads all candidates in in-house fundraising. He’s also benefited from almost $300,000 in independent ads paid for by Bloomfield.
- Silke Bradford has overseen charter schools in the Compton Unified and Oakland Unified school districts, and for the L.A. County Office of Education. She won the L.A. Times’ endorsement in the race, but trails all other candidates in fundraising.
- Lydia Gutiérrez is a Long Beach Unified teacher who’s run previously for this seat, for state senate and for state schools superintendent.
The critical candidate to watch Tuesday night is Castellanos: if she can’t make the November ballot, United Teachers Los Angeles’ hopes of regaining a solid majority of allies on the LAUSD board would take a big hit.
YOUR GUIDE
YOU SHOULD KNOW
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
