The dust was settling Thursday across Los Angeles County, where voters on Tuesday cast their ballots on an array of local, state and congressional races across the region.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters continued its regular process of tabulating, including the count of vote-by-mail ballots returned by Election Day and received within seven seven days of Election Day, Conditional voter registration (same-day registration) ballots, provisional ballots and ballots requiring additional review or verification.<\/p>\n
Updated results from the count came shortly after 4 p.m., showing fresh results in races across the county.<\/p>\n
Most races across the region appeared relatively unchanged since early results were posted Tuesday night. Frontrunners mostly stayed frontrunners.<\/p>\n
But there were a handful of close contests at the local, state and congressional levels as semi-official results showed Thursday afternoon. In most cases, the front-runner was set, but in some contests, the race for second spots, whether it be for a challenger in the November run-off or for a second city council seat, remained a question mark.<\/p>\n
The following updates show the closest races so far, as well the latest on some of the region\u2019s most high-profile contests, including measures.<\/p>\n
City Government<\/p>\n
Los Angeles<\/p>\n
Mayor<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles mayoral race remained one of the most closely watched contests as election officials continued counting ballots. As of Thursday\u2019s semi-official results, Mayor Karen Bass led with 35.1% of the vote and had already been projected by the Associated Press to advance to a November runoff. Former reality television star Spencer Pratt continued to hold the second position ahead of Councilmember Nithya Raman, with 29.4% and 23.4% of the vote, respectively. Pratt\u2019s lead narrowed to roughly 33,000 votes, down from about 37,000 votes following Wednesday\u2019s update.<\/p>\n
Fourth-place finisher Adam Miller, a tech entrepreneur and nonprofit leader, issued a statement Thursday thanking supporters and pledging to remain active in addressing city issues.<\/p>\n
City Attorney<\/p>\n
As of Thursday\u2019s semi-official results, Deputy Attorney General Marissa Roy and Deputy District Attorney John McKinney continued to hold the top two positions in the city attorney race, while incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto remained in third place and attorney Aida Ashouri in fourth. Roy led with 38.5% of the vote, followed by McKinney at 32.1%. Feldstein Soto received 19.3%, while Ashouri garnered 10.1%.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles City Council<\/p>\n
Most Los Angeles City Council incumbents appeared headed for reelection as of Thursday\u2019s semi-official results, with several holding comfortable leads well above the threshold needed to avoid November runoffs. The city\u2019s two open-seat contests, however, remained unsettled and appeared likely to continue into the fall.<\/p>\n
Council District 3<\/p>\n
As of Thursday\u2019s semi-official results, businessperson Tim Gaspar continued to lead the race to succeed termed-out Councilmember Bob Blumenfield with 48.7% of the vote, followed by Barri Worth Girvan, former director of community affairs for Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, with 39.5%. Advisor Christopher Robert \u201cC.R.\u201d Celona received 11.8%. Gaspar remained just below the majority threshold needed to avoid a November runoff.<\/p>\n
Council District 9<\/p>\n
As of Thursday\u2019s semi-official results, former Council District 9 deputy chief of staff Jose Ugarte continued to lead the race to succeed termed-out Councilmember Curren Price with 41.0% of the vote, remaining below the threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Co-Director Estuardo Mazariegos followed with 22.9% of the vote, while Jorge Nu\u00f1o, Martha S\u00e1nchez, Elmer Roldan and Jorge Hernandez Rosas trailed behind.<\/p>\n
Measures CB, TC and TT<\/p>\n
Los Angeles voters appeared poised to approve Measures CB and TC while rejecting Measure TT. As of Thursday\u2019s semi-official results, Measure CB, which would apply cannabis business taxes to unlicensed cannabis businesses, received more than 70% support, while Measure TC, which would apply the city\u2019s transient occupancy tax to online travel companies, remained above the majority threshold needed for approval. Measure TT, which would increase the city\u2019s hotel occupancy tax to fund city services, continued to trail, with a majority of voters opposing the proposal.<\/p>\n
La Ca\u00f1ada Flintridge<\/p>\n
By Thursday, semi-official returns showed Mayor Kim Bowman had garnered 42.5% of the vote, according to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder\u2019s Office. But the race for a second available seat was exceedingly close, with Planning Commissioner Nerses Aposhian at 28.9% of the vote hanging on to a slim lead against Quemars Ahmed, a member of the city\u2019s Sustainability and Resilience Commission, at 28.6% \u2013\u00a0 only a 22-vote difference.<\/p>\n
Covina<\/p>\n
Two political newcomers are vying for the city clerk post, and were in a virtual dead heat, as of release of latest results at 4:11 p.m. Thursday. Susan Zermeno, a 59-year-old retired city planner and land use consultant is in a tight contest with Rosie Richardson, 37, a community outreach manager. The latest results had Zermeno, with 50.4% of the vote and Richardson close behind at 49.5%.<\/p>\n
Less than 65 votes separate the two, as of Thursday afternoon, according to the L.A. County Registrar of Voters Office, although Zermeno\u2019s slim lead has been widening since Election Day.<\/p>\n
The winner in this contest would succeed Andrew Aleman, who served as city clerk until March, when his term ended. Aleman appears headed to winning the District 5 council seat vacated by Councilmember John King, who is retiring. As of the latest results released on Thursday, Aleman has 62.2% of the vote, in the two-candidate race.<\/p>\n
Monterey Park<\/p>\n