Mar 10 2011
Tiny Minority of Los Angelinos Show up to Pass Most Measures, and Re-elect Most Incumbents
On Tuesday a dismal 11.6 percent of Los Angeles voters showed up at the polls to vote in local elections. On the ballot were 10 city-wide measures that included taxing medical marijuana and oil extracted in LA, funding for public libraries, campaign finance laws, rules governing the LA Department of Water and Power, pension plans for public security officers, and the creation of an emergency reserve fund. All the measures passed with healthy margins, except for Measure O, the oil production tax, which lost by a close 48.93% to 51.07%. Also on the ballot were elections for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board. As expected, the so-called school reformers retained their majority on the board. A runoff election will be held in May to decide between the top two vote getters in District 5 after three candidates split the vote: Luis Sanchez will face off Bennet Kayser. And, in City Council elections, all the incumbents retained their seats. Councilman Jose Huizar handily beat his one-time friend Rudy Martinez 64.22% to 35.78% after a bitter and protracted race. And, councilman Bernard Parks just scraped by to a win against his opponent Forescee Hogan-Rowles with a vote of 50.89% to 43.99%.
GUEST: Dante Atkins, Regional Vice Chair for the Los Angeles County Democratic Party
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