Twenty-seven percent of registered voters cast ballots in West Hollywood’s March 7 City Council election, the highest percentage turnout for a city election in at least 17 years.
The latest count from the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder / County Clerk shows incumbents John Heilman and John Duran remain the winners, with no significant shift in the percentage of votes cast for them or any of their eight challengers.
The count does show that 46% of voters cast their ballots by mail rather than going to polling stations, where voters often experience long lines.
The chart below shows a breakdown of votes cast by candidates and precinct, with the precincts outlined on the map above. The city’s 11 precincts have been reduced to nine by the county, which makes comparisons between precinct votes in previous elections difficult.
I don’t think this serves an “endorsement of the current Council.” This election was paired with County ballot measures, and we should therefore expect a higher turnout. If given stronger options, voters might not have re-elected either of them. Look at the election from 2 years ago, where Heilmann lost. To one Councilmember who had only served one term (D’Amico, who led in votes), another who served a partial term (Horvath, by appointment, and who had lost a previous election) and someone who had never served on the Council at all (Meister). I’m curious to know if Martin or Blatt… Read more »
Sigh… you still don’t get it.
I really didn’t want to vote for John Duran because of his “troubles,” but so many of the people who run for office in WeHo are just not qualified. That includes a member of the current council…I wish Jeff Prang would come back. I would’ve voted for him and Heilman.
Still, a minority decides who will rule and how they will rule. Does the non-voting 73% not represented care at all?
So the record turnout is an even greater endorsement for the current council and its continued successful leadership. The pathetic effort by a handful of the usual suspects to downgrade the mandate at Monday night’s effort was Trumpian in its deceit. And that the voters of West Hollywood chose to return John Duran despite good reasons to think his behavior should have been enough to defeat him (and the voters knowing what happened) is a stunning rebuke to Cynthia Blatt and Steve Martin. The city needs to have its elections contested and incumbents held to standards, but the opposition needs… Read more »