WeHo’s Friday 5: Pride Is Here, Cottrell’s In the Race, and the Electorate Is in a Mood.
1. Jonathan Cottrell Is Running for West Hollywood City Council
Jonathan Cottrell, co-owner of Gym Bar WeHo, announced his candidacy for West Hollywood City Council Thursday afternoon in front of Koontz Hardware in the Rainbow District. He delivered brief remarks to neighbors and supporters before heading out on a West Hollywood business crawl. Cottrell serves on the City’s Public Facilities, Recreation & Infrastructure Commission and is a founding member of the WeHo Business Task Force. He and his husband Erik Braverman purchased Gym Bar WeHo in 2024. WEHOonline will catch up with Cottrell later today and will bring you that conversation over the weekend.
2. It’s Pride Weekend — and More of It Is Free Than You Think
WeHo Pride Weekend is underway right now. Today through Sunday, June 7, the festivities run in and around West Hollywood Park and along Santa Monica Boulevard, which is closed to traffic through Monday morning. A lot of it doesn’t cost a thing. The WeHo Pride Street Fair is free — it runs Saturday along Santa Monica Boulevard between Robertson and La Cienega, with performers Jordy, Ve’ondra, and Calin Russo on the free community stages. The Women’s Freedom Festival and the Dyke March are both free. The WeHo Pride Parade Sunday at noon is free. And this year, for the first time, the City is hosting Camp OUT! A Sober Pride Celebration — a drug- and alcohol-free block party on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the parking lot next to the West Hollywood Recovery Center Log Cabin at 617 N. Robertson Blvd. Open to everyone. Camp-inspired activities, a live DJ, snacks, and community. RSVP on Eventbrite. It’s the most intentional thing WeHo has done for sober community members at Pride in recent memory.
3. The Votes Are Still Coming In on SD-24
Tuesday’s California primary produced a stunner in the race for State Senate District 24. Torrance Republican G. Rick Marshall led the field going into Thursday afternoon, with Beverly Hills Democrat Brian Goldsmith in second. West Hollywood City Councilmember John Erickson was in third — trailing Goldsmith by nearly 3,700 votes with roughly 38 percent of ballots still uncounted. The AP revised its estimate of total ballots downward Wednesday, meaning more votes are outstanding than initially projected. Nothing is certified until July 10. WEHOonline has been covering SD-24 more closely than any other local outlet. The full story and ongoing updates are here.
4. There’s an LA Times Piece on Pride Worth Your Time
LZ Granderson wrote a column in the Los Angeles Times this week on the Proverbs 16:18 debate that surfaces every June. His argument: the “pride before a fall” warning was directed at rulers and the abuse of power — not at LGBTQ+ people celebrating their lives. He’s been openly gay for nearly 30 years, legally married for more than 10 of them, and he’s spent a lot of time watching that scripture get weaponized against the wrong people. He walks through the actual text. The word “king” appears five times in Proverbs 16. The word “drag” does not appear once. Solomon fell not because of who he loved but because he stopped listening — replacing humility with the certainty that he had all the answers. Granderson makes the comparison directly: that sounds a lot more like Donald Trump than it does like anyone marching down Santa Monica Boulevard on Sunday. It’s a clear-headed read going into the weekend. The full column is here.
5. Something Is Happening in the Electorate — and It’s Not Subtle
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto appears headed for a third-place finish in Tuesday’s primary — which would make her the first incumbent city attorney to fail to make a runoff in LA since 1933. The last time that happened, nearly 30 percent of Angelenos were unemployed and King Kong was in theaters. Analysts are pointing to superior messaging and online presence by challengers Marissa Roy and John McKinney in what was a low-information race. What’s the through-line from Tuesday night in SD-24 to Tuesday night in City Hall? Incumbency is not protecting anyone right now. Institutional support is not translating to votes. Voters are in a mood. One West Hollywood political insider put it plainly this week. “The Dem brand is tainted with independents,” the insider said. “Particularly progressives. This district is still very progressive but is slowly becoming skeptical. Plus Dems have proven they can’t run LA, which is totally fucked up.” West Hollywood has its own City Council election coming up. Incumbents and first-time candidates alike should probably be paying close attention to what just happened two miles down the road.
