Former state senator Kevin de León declared victory Monday in the March 3 election to replace José Huízar in the City Council District 14 seat.
The latest round of results released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder showed De León had 25,076 votes, or 52.61% of the vote. His nearest competitor was Cyndi Otteson, with 9,291 votes, or 19.49%.
The Registrar-Recorder said Tuesday there were approximately 3,600 ballots in the county to be counted, but a spokesman for the De León campaign told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that only about 400 ballots were uncounted in the CD 14 race, making it was statistically impossible for another candidate to win.
The Registrar-Recorder is expected to certify the March 3 election on March 27. If De León is certified the winner, he will avoid a November runoff and take office in December.
In a statement released Monday morning, De León addressed the ongoing coronavirus emergency.
“Today we stand in the midst of one of the greatest challenges to ever face our city, state, and nation: responding to the broad and devastating impacts of COVID-19,” he said. “Though the future may feel uncertain, as a veteran public servant I know that we can overcome anything when our communities unite as they have to achieve our common goals.”
The spokesman said De León was staying in Highland Park and “maintaining safe social distancing guidelines.”
De León faced four other candidates in the race to represent the district, which includes Boyle Heights, parts of downtown Los Angeles, and several Northeastern neighborhoods like El Sereno and Eagle Rock.
Other races
It appeared Tuesday that District Attorney Jackie Lacey will face a runoff against George Gascón in the heated election for the county’s top prosecutor. The latest numbers showed that the incumbent Lacey had 868,793 votes, or 48.65% of the vote – short of the 50% plus one needed to avoid the runoff.
Gascón, a former San Francisco District Attorney, had 503,836 votes, or 28.22%.
At the federal level, U.S. Representative Jimmy Gómez appears to have avoided a runoff in his race for reelection in the 34h district, with 52.04% of the vote.
This post was updated on March 25 at 5:00 p.m.
