County Democrats endorse Furutani for City Council
Vacated seat by Janice Hahn
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Democratic Party endorsed Assemblyman Warren Furutani for the 15th District City Council seat vacated by Janice Hahn.
Furutani “has led the fight for quality schools, better job training programs and healthier neighborhoods,” county party chair Eric Bauman said in a statement released by Furutani’s campaign.
Furutani was elected in 2008 to the Assembly to represent a district that includes Lakewood, Carson and Wilmington. His early career was in activism and education. Furutani was the first Asian Pacific Islander American to be elected to the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1987. He went on to serve on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees in 1999.
Furutani said he was honored to have the party’s support. “With the backing of grassroots activists, I am confident our campaign will be able to take on the powerful downtown interests and lobbyists and prevail,” he said.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also endorsed Furutani.
The deadline for submitting enough petitions to get on the ballot was Monday. Seven other candidates qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot:
Pat McOsker, a Los Angeles firefighter
Joe Buscaino, an LAPD officer
Rebecca Chambliss a Realtor
Rudy Svorinich, a registered lobbyist and former city councilman
Jayme Wilson, a San Pedro restaurant owner
Gordon Teuber, a deputy in the 15th District council office
Robert Farrell, a former city councilman
Buscaino recently won the support of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing more than 9,000 police officers in the city.
McOsker won the support of the firefighters’ union, United Firefighters of Los Angeles City. McOsker was president of the union before stepping down Aug. 24.
Councilmen Richard Alarcon, Mitchell Englander, and Jose Huizar also endorsed McOsker.
Hahn, who served two terms in the heavily Democratic district, won a special congressional election in July to replace Jane Harman, who stepped down earlier this year to run the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a foreign policy think tank in Washington.
By Richie Duchon | City News Service
Ten of the 15 candidates trying to win the right to fill the unexpired term of former L.A.
Councilwoman Janice Hahn turned out for a candidate forum in Watts Saturday, and the common themes they stressed were that the 15th District needs to receive its fair share of funding and resources to address concerns such as public safety, housing, and unemployment.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Democratic Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn defeated Republican businessman Craig Huey in today’s special election in the 36th Congressional District.
Hahn had 56.8 percent of the vote to 43.2 percent for Huey with 127 of 261 precincts, 48.66 percent, according to figures released by the Los Angeles County Department of Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
The special election was necessitated by the Feb. 28 resignation of Rep. Jane Harman to head the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Thousands of people lined the streets of South Los Angeles for the 26th annual Kingdom Day Parade, themed "Working together, we can make the dream come true.''
More than 3,000 participants, including marching bands, drill teams, dance groups and equestrian units, took part in Southern California's largest King Day observance.
In an effort to attract new car dealerships to Los Angeles and increase sales tax revenue to pay for public services, the City Council voted Tuesday to eliminate a business tax on new car sales.
City officials say the city’s business tax, which brings in about $4 million per year, is the main reason 95 car dealerships moved out of the city over the last 25 years.
The council voted 12-0 in favor of the plan by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and carried in the council by Mitchell Englander and Eric Garcetti.
With all 94 precincts reporting, first-time political candidate Joe Buscaino has sent Warren Furutani back to the state Assembly by snagging 60.69 percent of votes cast in the special Council District 15 election Tuesday.
A little in excess of 16,000 of the more than 100,000 registered voters went to the polls in an election where the choice was clear-cut—City Hall outsider versus a veteran with long ties to the state’s political machinery.
