LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Despite a close race for Los Angeles mayor and hotly contested battles for City Council, city attorney and city controller, only 22.7 percent of registered voters returned vote-by-mail ballots as of today, with polls across the city opening tomorrow.
Election officials issued 739,117 vote-by-mail ballots and 167,657 have been returned so far, Kimberly Briggs of the City Clerk’s office said.
Hollywood-area City Councilman Eric Garcetti will square off tomorrow against Controller Wendy Greuel. The two candidates took part in a flurry of last-minute, “get out the vote” events over the weekend to wake up voter interest.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is waging an uphill battle to keep his job, trailing in recent polls behind former assemblyman Mike Feuer with as many as 18 percentage points between the two candidates, according to the USC-L.A. Times poll released last Friday.
The same poll has San Fernando area Councilman Dennis Zine and city commissioner Ron Galperin in a tight race to succeed Greuel as the City Controller.
Also on the ballot tomorrow are three runoff races for City Council.
Former Public Works Commissioner, John Choi, is up against Mitch O’Farrell, a one-time field deputy for Garcetti, in the race for the 13th District seat.
In the 1st District, voters will decide between former Assemblyman Gil Cedillo and Jose Gardea, the current chief of staff for the district, to represent an area that includes northeast Los Angeles, Chinatown, Pico Union and MacArthur Park.
State Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, and Ana Cubas, former chief of staff for Councilman Jose Huizar, are vying for the 9th District seat representing South Los Angeles.
A special election in the San Fernando Valley’s 6th District will also be held tomorrow to determine who will finish the term of Tony Cardenas, who was elected to Congress.
Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member Nury Martinez and former Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez top a field of seven candidates that include businessman J. Roy Garcia, student Walter Escobar, government adviser Derek Waleko, businessman Richard Valdez, and write-in candidate Don Stroncak, a screenwriter.
If none of the candidates in the 6th District race receive more than 50 percent of the votes, the top two candidates must head to a special runoff election set for July 23.
Vote-by-mail ballots must arrive at the City Clerk’s Office or be brought to polling places by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Until 5 p.m. today, voters can also cast ballots at City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.
