Californians were able to cast their election votes earlier than usual, joining in with 13 other states and American Samoa for “Super Tuesday” on March 3.
It was a super day especially for Joe Biden, who on Monday, gained endorsements from three democrats who dropped out of the race. At press time, Biden was declared the victor in nine Super Tuesday states; Sanders had four; and although Bloomberg won American Samoa along with some delegates from other states, on Wednesday morning he decided to end his campaign.
There were 415 delegates at stake in California. At this writing, state democrats voted their preference for Bernie Sanders, who gained 37.76 percent of the votes. Biden came away with 26.58 percent and Elizabeth Warren drew 12.12 percent of Tuesday’s democratic votes.
“I’m here to report we are very much alive,” Biden said at a Tuesday night rally held in Baldwin Hills. “Make no mistake about it, this campaign will send Donald Trump packing. This campaign is taking off.”
Sanders has not conceded, though, and spoke in Vermont on Tuesday.
“Tonight I tell you with absolute confidence we are gonna win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country,” Sanders said.
Dr. Manuel Pastor, a distinguished professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, watched the campaigns closely. His research has generally focuses on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities and the social movements seeking to change those realities.
“While ‘Super Tuesday’ breathed renewed life into Biden’s campaign, California continued to be a state of resistance,” Pastor said. “The endorsements mattered and I think the South Carolina victory for Biden made it clearer that he has the ability to make inroads to the southern part of the black vote.”
Pastor believes that if Biden ultimately wins the nomination, there may be less financial giving from the pro-Sanders, progressive Californians toward November’s election, even though the Trump presidency is seen as a crisis.
“We have a president who is refusing to deal with police brutality,” Pastor said. “He doesn’t talk about White supremacy. His tactics and politics on immigration make him an existential threat to Latinos.”
Pastor believes that California will play a huge role as both campaigns move toward the convention.
“I think in California, Sanders won, not handily but impressively,” the professor said. “As America’s most populated state, the continuing divergence between what Californians desire and what the rest of America votes for is both striking and worrisome.”
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office said more than 20 percent of eligible registered voters cast ballots. By Wednesday morning, more than 1,137,023 ballots had been processed and counted. Once the provisional and vote by mail ballots are verified they will be counted. For updates on the election results, visit www.lavote.net.
Some voters stood in line for hours and were not able to cast their votes until after midnight, due to technical problems at some Voting Centers. The registrar’s office is looking to reassess and improve the new voting experience in LA County, as accessibility equipment and Voting Center issues need to be addressed before November.
To avoid a runoff election in November, candidates will have to win more than 50 percent of the vote. On Wednesday, March 4, the leading vote-getters who desire to represent residents of South Los Angeles included the following:
In the District 37 U.S. Representative race:
• Karen Bass came away with 86.82 percent
of the vote so far
• Larry Thompson had 4.69 percent
• Errol Webber had 8.49 percent
In the District 40 U.S. Representative race:
• Lucille Roybal-Allard received 49.32 percent
of the vote so far
• David John Sanchez had 14.34 percent
• Cantonio Delgado had 14.31 percent
• Anthony Felix, Jr. had 12.68 percent
• Rodolfo Cortes Barragan had 6.60 percent
• Michael Donnel Graham, Jr. had
2.75 percent
In the District 43 U.S. Representative race:
• Maxine Waters won 75.59 percent of
the vote so far
• Joe E. Collins III won 12.29 percent
• Omar Navarro had 12.12 percent
In the District 35 State Senatorial race:
• Steven Craig Bradford came away with
74.48 percent so far
• Anthony Perry had 25.52 percent
In the District 54 State Assembly race:
• Sydney Kamlager-Dove received 55.20 per
cent of the vote so far
• Tracy Bernard Jones had 29.52 percent
• Glen Ratcliff had 10.95 percent
• Clinton Brown received 4.33 percent
In the District 59 State Assembly race:
• Efren Martinez had 49.56 percent of
the vote so far
• Reggie Jones-Sawyer had 45.71 percent
• Marcello Villeda had 4.73 percent
In the District 62 State Assembly race:
• Autumn Burke received 82.10 percent of the
vote so far
• Robert A. Steele received 17.90 percent
In the District 64 State Assembly race:
• Mike Gipson received 69.89 percent of
the vote so far
• Fatima S. Iqbal-Zubair had 30.11 percent
In the Second District L.A. County Supervisor race:
• Herb Wesson had 32.09 percent of the
vote so far
• Holly Mitchell had 25.51 percent
• Jan Perry had 12.26 percent
• Albert Robles had 11.38 percent
• Jorge Nuno had 6.64 percent
• Jake Jeong had 6.54 percent
In the District 8 City Council race:
• Marqueece Harris-Dawson received 100
percent of the vote so far
In the District 10 City Council race:
• Mark Ridley-Thomas has 46.87 percent of
the vote so far
• Grace Yoo had 24.80 percent
• Aura Vasquez had 17.89 percent
• Melvin Snell had 5.93 percent
• Channing L. Martinez had 4.5 percent
In the L.A. County District Attorney race:
• Jackie Lacey had 50.69 percent of the
vote so far
• George Gascon had 26.83 percent
• Rachel A. Rossi had 22.47 percent
In LAUSD School Board District 1 race:
• George J. McKenna had 100 percent of
the vote
In the LAUSD School Board District 7 race:
• Patricia Castellanos had 26.21 percent of
the vote so far
• Tanya Ortiz Franklin had 23.83 percent
• Mike Lansing had 20.70 percent
• Lydia Gutierrez had 20.06 percent
• Dr. Silke Bradford had 9.21 percent
Measure 13
• YES vote received 52.24 percent of the
vote so far
• NO vote had 47.76 percent
Measure R
• YES vote received 71.17 percent of the
vote so far
• NO vote had 28.83 percent
Measure FD
• YES vote received 52.52 percent of the
vote so far
• NO vote had 47.48 percent
L.A. County Superior Court Judge Seat #162
• Scott Andrew Yang received 49.86 percent of
the vote so far
• David D. Diamond, 29.96 percent
• Caree Annette Harper, 20.17 percent
