Rafu Wire Service and xes vn moiStaff Reports
The Los Angeles City Clerk’s Office on Friday released the official list of 31 candidates who have qualified to appear on the ballot for the March 2024 election.
In 2024, even-numbered council district seats will be up for election — a total of seven seats.
The outcome will impact AAPI representation on the council. Currently, two of the incumbents identify as AAPI, and at least four AAPI candidates are among the challengers in other races.
? 4th District:Incumbent Nithya Raman, the city’s first councilmember of South Asian descent, will look to hold on to her seat, as Levon “Lev” Baronian, an engineer and neighborhood council member, and Ethan Weaver, a deputy city attorney, will look to unseat her.
The district consists of central Los Angeles, the southern San Fernando Valley and the eastern Santa Monica Mountains.
? 6th District:Following the resignation of former Councilmember Nury Martinez after her involvement in a racially charged leaked audio recording, voters elected Councilmember Imelda Padilla in June and she took office in July.
Padilla will look to remain in her seat as the representative of northern parts of the San Fernando Valley such as Van Nuys, Panorama City and others. Two challengers — Ely De La Cruz Ayao, a Filipino American real estate broker, and Carmenlina Minasova, a respiratory care practitioner — will seek election to that position.
? 10th District:Heather Hutt — who was appointed to represent neighborhoods in central and south L.A. after former Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was suspended and later removed after being convicted in a federal bribery case — is aiming to be elected for a full term.
She will face four challengers in the March election— Eddie Anderson, a pastor and community organizer; Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a State Assembly member; Aura Vasquez, a city commissioner and environmentalist; and Grace Yoo, an attorney, neighborhood council member, and former executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Korean American Coalition. Yoo previously ran against District 10 incumbent Herb Wesson in 2015 and against Ridley-Thomas in 2020. The district includes Koreatown.
? 12th District:Incumbent John Lee, the second Korean American to serve on the council after David Ryu, will face off against challenger Serena Oberstein, a nonprofit policy executive and former president of the City Ethics Commission.
Lee, who was previously chief of staff for former Councilmember Mitch Englander, who represented the 12th District, was elected to represent the same district following Englander’s departure. Englander was later indicted for corruption charges stemming from a 2017 trip to Las Vegas.
Lee is now facing a City Ethics Commission investigation for the same trip. The commission has accused Lee of ethics violations related to failing to disclose gifts, misuse of his position, accepting excess gifts and aiding and abetting misuse of position related to the same 2017 trip to Las Vegas.
The councilman has denied the accusations and any wrongdoing. He issued a lawsuit against the City Ethics Commission, saying the investigation is being used as means to sway voters in the 2024 March election.
The 12th District stretches across the northwestern parts of the San Fernando Valley, such as Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, North Hills, West Hills and Reseda.
? 14th District:Incumbent Councilmember Kevin de León is seeking another four-year term, though his seat will be highly contested as seven challengers are looking to replace him at City Hall.
Genny Guerrero, a community advocate; Teresa Hillery, an attorney; Ysabel Jurado, a Filipino American tenants rights attorney; Wendy Carrillo, a State Assembly member; Eduardo “Lalo” Vargas, a public school teacher; Miguel Santiago, a state assembly member; and Nadine Momoyo Diaz, a health care professional, will be looking to oust de León. Diaz, who is of Mexican, Japanese, Basque and Yaqui Indian descent, previously ran in the same district against incumbent Jose Huizar in 2015.
De León was one of three councilmembers that participated in the leaked audio recording that upended City Hall proceedings in 2022. While the other two, Martinez and Gil Cedillo, left the City Council, de León was able to endure calls for his resignation and remain on the council.
Although he was stripped of his committee assignments, over the course of the year, de León has been able to pass motions with support of a few of his colleagues on the council.
De León will most likely face criticisms from challengers over his involvement in the leaked audio.
The district includes Downtown, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Skid Row, Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights.
According to the City Clerk’s Office, candidates qualified to run in the March election after having collected at least 500 valid voter signatures and paid a $300 filing fee by Dec. 6, or by gathering at least 1,000 valid voter signatures.