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List set for March ballot on city council candidates

On Dec. 12, the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office finalized the list of candidates set to appear on the March 2015 ballot. In addition to seven City Council seats, Los Angeles voters will decide the fate of four seats on the Board of Education and four seats on the Community College Board of Trustees.
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December 15, 2014

On Dec. 12, the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office finalized the list of candidates set to appear on the March 2015 ballot. In addition to seven City Council seats, Los Angeles voters will decide the fate of four seats on the Board of Education and four seats on the Community College Board of Trustees.

If a candidate receives a majority of votes on March 3, they win the seat outright. However, if no candidate receives a majority, a runoff election is set for May 19.

Council Member Mitch Englander of District 12 in the Northern San Fernando Valley is running unopposed. 

In Council District 4, 14 candidates are vying for the seat being vacated by Tom LaBonge, who is leaving due to term-limits. By far the most expensive council race, candidates include Carolyn Ramsay, a longtime aide to LaBonge who most recently served as his chief of staff, David Ryu, a community health director, Joan Pelico, chief of staff to Councilmember Paul Koretz, and Wally Knox, an attorney and former California State Assembly member. The two other candidates in District 4 who have raised significant funds are Teddy Davis, a lawyer and news director who briefly served as press secretary to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Steve Veres, a trustee on the Community College Board.

Paul Krekorian is running for reelection in Council District 2, which includes North Hollywood, Studio City, and Valley Village. Eric Preven, a television producer who ran earlier this year in the Democratic primary for the County Board of Supervisor’s third district, is his only opposition.

In another closely watched and hotly contested council race, District 14’s José Huizar is running for reelection against former L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who had reached her term limit for the county. Though Huizar has held the seat since 2005, Molina has been a powerful presence in the district. She previously served as the Councilmember for District 1 in the late 1980s. Three other candidates are also running for the seat: Nadine Diaz, John O’Neill, and Mario Chavez.

In District 8 in South Los Angeles, four candidates are running to replace Bernard Parks, who is also leaving because of term limits. Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president and CEO of the Community Coalition, is the frontrunner for the seat. Community development expert Forescee Hogan-Rowles, State Commissioner Bobbie Jean Anderson, and Robert L. Cole, of the Los Angeles County Citizens’ Economy & Efficiency Commission are also running for the seat.

In Council District 10, Herb Wesson is running for reelection against physician and theologian Delaney Smith and attorney Grace Yoo. 

The ballot order was also determined last week in a random public drawing. The ordering will be used on the ballot of the March 3 Nominating Election and, if necessary, on the ballot for the General Municipal Election on May 19. The next financial filing date is January 10, at which point the field of candidates is likely to narrow significantly. 

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