Paul Koretz declares victory in L.A. City Council race [Updated]

Los Angeles City Council candidate Paul Koretz declared victory Tuesday night in his race to replace Councilman Jack Weiss, shortly after county election officials put him ahead of his opponent by 702 votes.

Koretz, a former state assemblyman, sent an e-mail to supporters shortly before 10 p.m., saying there were 100 votes left to count and that he could safely call himself the winner.

On election night, the two candidates were separated by 335 votes.

The latest tally puts Koretz at 50.98% of the vote, compared to 49.02% for neighborhood council member David "Ty" Vahedi. Vahedi and Koretz were running in a district that stretches from Cheviot Hills to Encino.

The winner takes office July 1.

[Updated at 2:40 p.m.: The Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office reports that there are, in fact, an estimated 500 to 1,000 uncounted ballots remaining in the 5th District race. That includes 100 damaged ballots. Eileen Shea, spokeswoman for the elections office, said official results were not expected until about June 15, and no winner had been declared in the race.]

--David Zahniser

Comments

[John from the Westside]

Vahedi lost because we were tired of seeing his signs on every lawn. A big issue was sign and billboard pollution. He vowed to fight it, but he was one of the offenders! That's why we voted against him!