The mayoral contest sits atop a city ballot loaded with competitive and consequential races, including these five standouts<\/p>\n
The mayoral election isn\u2019t the only race turning heads. From a handful of council member seats to Los Angeles\u2019 acting lawyer, here are five more races to keep a careful eye on.<\/p>\n
City Attorney<\/p>\n
Incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto\u2019s achievements include taking on notorious human traffickers in South L.A., and she\u2019s got the backing of figures including U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu and Robert Garcia. Her three challengers in the quest to be L.A.\u2019s top lawyer include Marissa Roy, whose progressive prosecutor agenda is endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Both are prolific fundraisers, but the presence on the ballot of John McKinney and Aida Ashouri could push this into a November runoff (which occurs if no one surpasses 50%).<\/p>\n
City Controller<\/p>\n
Four years ago, newcomer Kenneth Mejia \u2014 with a campaign powered by billboards and goofy videos \u2014 beat a City Hall veteran for the post of L.A.\u2019s financial watchdog. He\u2019s earned fans for the databases posted on his website, but also critics who contend he\u2019s needlessly combative in City Hall. He\u2019s being challenged by real estate executive Zach Sokoloff, who by mid-April, had out-raised Mejia by a nearly five-to-one margin. Sokoloff also boasts the endorsement of the L.A. County Democratic party and Sen. Adam Schiff.<\/p>\n
Council District 1<\/p>\n
In 2022, DSA-backed Eunisses Hernandez shocked the political establishment by unseating an incumbent. Now, she faces four challengers \u2014 Lou Calanche, Raul Claros, Nelson Grande and Sylvia Robledo \u2014 who charge that her approaches to homelessness and crime have left portions of the Eastside district dirty and unsafe. A key battle point is MacArthur Park; the onetime gem is now known for garbage, blight and a preponderance of fentanyl addicts.<\/p>\n
Council District 9<\/p>\n
The South L.A. seat has been occupied by an African American for more than 60 years. That will change, as all six candidates seeking to replace termed-out Curren Price are Latino. Price deputy Jose Ugarte had raised $477,000 by mid-April \u2014 more than twice as much as his closest competitor, the DSA-endorsed Estuardo Mazariegos. Elmer Roldan, the head of a school dropout prevention nonprofit, had $115,000.<\/p>\n
Council District 11<\/p>\n
When progressive officeholder Mike Bonin stepped down in 2022, centrist Democrat Traci Park defeated a large field. Park has since been credited for cleaning up sprawling tent encampments throughout the Westside district and being a steady hand after the Palisades Fire. She is challenged by attorney Faizah Malik, a DSA-backed candidate who shares many of Bonin\u2019s policies. It\u2019s by far L.A.\u2019s most expensive council race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mayoral contest sits atop a city ballot loaded with competitive and consequential races, including these five standouts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4752,204,135740,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-326715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-city-hall","tag-election","tag-june-2026","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}