Jurado leads De León; Hutt and Nazarian also ahead in 2024 election

Tenants rights attorney Ysabel Jurado was leading Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León in a race to represent downtown and much of the city’s Eastside, according to early returns released Tuesday.

The bruising, yearlong contest pitted Jurado, a first-time candidate, against De León, a veteran lawmaker who was politically wounded by his participation in a secretly recorded conversation that featured racist and crude remarks.

Jurado, who spent much of election day crisscrossing the district, said her campaign was about making sure that city services are delivered equitably, among other things.

“It’s about racial justice. It’s about change. It’s about bringing good governance, and local government that works for people,” she said.

Ysabel Jurado is challenging Councilmember Kevin de León in the 14th District.

(Brian van der Brug; Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The District 14 seat was one of three council seats that were up for grabs Tuesday.

In the San Fernando Valley, former state Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian pulled ahead of small business owner Jillian Burgos in the race to replace Councilmember Paul Krekorian, who is departing because of term limits, early returns showed.

Nazarian said he is “cautiously optimistic” but still waiting for more results. At the same time, he said he thinks his message resonated with voters.

“My campaign was about making Los Angeles a place where businesses can thrive, where families can thrive, where people can feel safe and have an affordable, sustainable life,” Nazarian said.

Burgos and Jurado were seeking to push the council further left on such issues as public safety and city spending. Backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, LA Forward and other progressive groups, they have been looking to expand the bloc of council members who would rein in spending at the Los Angeles Police Department and carry out new tenant protections.

Burgos said that, over the course of the campaign, her team knocked on more than 65,000 doors. During those conversations, voters expressed concern about high housing costs and having to work multiple jobs or live with multiple people just to pay the rent, she said.

“A lot of people are afraid that unless we expand rent control and work on implementing our tenant anti-harassment ordinance, that people are going to be pushed out of the district,” Burgos said.

Nazarian served in Sacramento from 2012 to 2022 and was, at one point, a high-level Krekorian aide. Krekorian’s district takes in all or parts of North Hollywood, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Valley Glen, Valley Village and other areas.

Former state Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian is running to succeed Councilmember Paul Krekorian in a San Fernando Valley district.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Burgos, a member of the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council, is part owner of a murder mystery theater company and has been looking to become the council’s first Afro-Latina member.

In a district stretching from Koreatown to the Crenshaw Corridor, Councilmember Heather Hutt was pulling well ahead of attorney Grace Yoo, according to early returns.

Hutt, a onetime staffer to several state elected officials, was appointed to the City Council in 2022 as a temporary replacement for Mark Ridley-Thomas after his indictment on corruption charges. After Ridley-Thomas was convicted, the council reappointed Hutt to the interim post.

Minutes after the polls closed, Hutt said her campaign was about “bringing commonsense resources to the community,” such as trimming trees and picking up “bulky items” from the curb and sidewalk.

“I feel like we’ve done a great job running a good race,” she said.

Yoo ran for the 10th District seat twice before — in 2015 and 2020 — losing both times. She has promised to be more aggressive than Hutt in tackling homelessness, trash removal and neighborhood quality-of-life issues.

In an interview, Yoo said her campaign was about change.

“It was about having an elected official who listens to the people about basic city services, about taking care of problems,” she said. “Voters want someone who’s willing to listen and get the job done.”

City Councilmember Heather Hutt, who was appointed to her seat, is running for election for the first time.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Hutt, running for the council seat for the first time, campaigned on her work fighting homelessness, saying her district saw a 12% decrease in street encampments last year. Labor and business groups put more than $648,000 into efforts to support Hutt’s campaign in the runoff election.

Early results could change as workers with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk count mail-in ballots in the coming days. In previous years, close contests have shifted during the week after the election as late-arriving ballots were tabulated.

Residents of Los Angeles also were deciding on several amendments to the City Charter, the document that spells out government operations at City Hall.

According to early returns, voters were overwhelmingly supporting Charter Amendment DD, which would take redistricting — the process of creating new boundary lines for the city’s 15 council districts — out of the hands of city politicians, turning it over to an independent panel of citizen volunteers.

The proposal was first unveiled in the wake of the 2021 redistricting process, following frustration over efforts to redraw several districts in the Valley. It gained new momentum after the 2022 audio leak scandal, when three council members, including De León, and a high-profile labor leader were heard on a recording discussing ways of drawing the lines that would benefit either themselves or their allies.

In early returns, voters also were supporting a companion measure, Charter Amendment LL, which would put independent redistricting in place at the Los Angeles Unified School District. Both DD and LL would go into effect in time for the next redistricting, which coincides with the release of U.S. census results in 2030.

Mike Dowling votes as his dog Remy waits alongside him at the North Weddington Recreation Center in North Hollywood.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Charter Amendment ER, a plan to strengthen the power of the City Ethics Commission, was also ahead in early returns. That measure, drafted in the wake of several City Hall corruption scandals, would ensure the agency has a minimum budget of $7 million starting in 2025-26.

“This is the end of gerrymandering in Los Angeles and it’s the beginning of a new era of focusing on ethics and a more robust democracy,” said Krekorian, who worked to get DD, ER and several other measures on the ballot.

Early returns showed that voters were approving Charter Amendment FF, which would allow officers in some of the city’s smaller law enforcement agencies to switch into the more lucrative Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions system.

Charter Amendment FF would apply to about 460 park rangers, port police officers and law enforcement officers assigned to the city’s airports. It would cost the city’s general fund $23 million at the outset and about $1 million per year after that.

Yet another city measure, Charter Amendment HH, was ahead in early returns. That measure would expand the subpoena powers of the city attorney and clarify that the city controller can obtain records involving city contractors. It would also require that the Board of Harbor Commissioners have at least two local representatives — one from San Pedro, the other from Wilmington.

Charter Amendment II, which makes a series of technical changes to the City Charter, was also ahead in early returns.

That measure would allow the Department of Recreation and Parks to enter into joint agreements with the L.A. Unified School District. It would also clarify that the Los Angeles Zoo and the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument are park property.