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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles City Council members Gil Cedillo, Bob Blumenfield, Monica Rodriguez and Curren Price were on track Wednesday to secure another term, as primary election results continued to come in, while Councilman Mitch O'Farrell appeared headed for a runoff with labor organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez.
Cedillo, Blumenfield, Rodriguez and Price faced only one challenger in their Tuesday primaries, causing the elections to be decided during this election instead of a November runoff between the top two candidates.
As of 11:16 p.m. Tuesday, Cedillo led the vote with 54.37% for Council District 1 -- which includes Glassell Park, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Westlake, Chinatown and Pico-Union. Cedillo faces community activist and public policy advocate Eunisses Hernandez, who received 45.63% of the vote in the initial results.
Blumenfield stood with 68.38% of the vote according to late evening results, while his opponent, Child Development Institute Board Member Scott Silverstein, stood at 31.62%. The district includes neighborhoods in the southwest San Fernando Valley.
Rodriguez received 71.43% of the vote for the 7th District in the northeastern San Fernando Valley as of 11:16 p.m., while her opponent, community advocate and former president of the Pacoima Neighborhood Council Elisa Avalos, received 28.57%.
Price received about 67% of the vote for District 9 in South Los Angeles. Dulce Vasquez, director of strategic partnerships for Arizona State University, received about 32% of the vote as of 11:16 p.m.
But the race to represent Council District 13, which includes the neighborhoods of Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park and Atwater Village, appears to be headed for a runoff between incumbent O'Farrell, who received 38.06% vote late Tuesday night, and Soto-Martinez -- a labor organizer for the union that represents hotel workers -- who received 34.44%.
Kate Pynoos, former homelessness policy adviser to Councilman Bonin, received about 15%. Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Stephen Johnson received about 8.79% and community organizer and police abolition advocate Al Corado received 3.72% as of 11:16 p.m. Tuesday.
In Council District 5 -- which includes Bel Air, Encino, Westwood, Encino and Fairfax -- Councilman Paul Koretz is termed-out and appears to be heading for a November runoff in his run for city controller.
Katy Young Yaroslavsky -- former senior environment and arts policy deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and a daughter-in-law of former Supervisor and Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who represented the district from 1975-94 -- held a majority of the vote, with 50.93% as of 11:16 p.m. If her majority holds, she will avoid a November runoff.
Attorney and small-business owner Sam Yebri held an initial 28%; UCLA School of Law lecturer Jimmy Biblarz followed with 10.74%; and former chair of the Mid City West Neighborhood Council Scott Epstein received 10.33%.
Bonin, who has represented Council District 11 since 2013, decided not to run for a third term on the City Council, saying he wanted to focus on his mental health.
Initial results for the district show eviction defense and civil rights attorney Erin Darling in the lead with 32.98%, followed by attorney Traci Park with 30.3%. The two appear to be headed for a runoff, with no other candidate received more than 10% of early voting results.
Council District 15, which includes San Pedro, Wilmington and Watts, has four candidates running to replace Councilman Joe Buscaino, who was running for mayor before dropping out of the race in May.
Leading the field in the initial results is Tim McOsker, businessman and chief of staff for then-Mayor James Hahn. McOsker received 39.87% of the initial vote, followed by former Harbor City Neighborhood Council President Danielle Sandoval with 30.3%; businessman and former Port of Los Angeles marketing manager Anthony Santich, with 16.78%; and educator and community organizer Bryant Odega, with 13.05%.