Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel are headed into a runoff for Los Angeles mayor, as state Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield won his city council race outright in Tuesday's balloting.
Sen. Curren Price, the other current lawmaker seeking Los Angeles city office, will face Ana Cubas in a runoff for council in District 9.
Unofficial results from the Los Angeles City Clerk's Office this morning showed Blumenfield won 51.6 percent of the vote in District 3, advancing over six opponents. Price won 27 percent to Cubas' 24 percent. Former Assemblyman Paul Koretz easily won re-election in District 5, and former lawmaker Felipe Fuentes won outright in District 7 with 51 percent of the vote. Former lawmakers Gil Cedillo (District 1, 49 percent) and Mike Feuer (City attorney, 44 percent) face runoffs.
The results in Los Angeles could alter the political calculus in Sacramento, potentially endangering -- or at least interrupting -- the two-thirds supermajority that allows Democrats to raise new taxes and put constitutional amendments on the ballot without Republican support.
Former state Sen. Michael Rubio's surprise resignation two weeks ago, combined with two State Senate seats left vacant after Democrats Gloria Negrete McLeod and Juan Vargas won election to Congress, has already disrupted the dynamics in the Senate. Price's departure would add another element of uncertainty, although Democrats are expected to win Vargas and McLeod's old Senate seats.
Democrats in the Assembly currently hold 55 seats, one more than the 54 need for a two-thirds majority. Blumenfield's departure for Los Angeles City Hall will drop the Democrats majority to the bare two-thirds margin.
Complicating the picture is the fact that Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, and Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, are running for the two open State Senate seats next week.
The incoming members of the Los Angeles City Council will take their seats on July 1st. Gov. Jerry Brown has 14 days from when a seat in the state Legislature is vacated to call a special election.
PHOTO CREDIT: Traffic runs along the southbound 110 Freeway towards downtown Los Angeles, April 28, 2005. (AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill)
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.