Paul Koretz has slight lead in District 5 balloting [Updated]

Former Assemblyman Paul Koretz held a thin lead today over neighborhood council member David "Ty" Vahedi in the race to succeed Jack Weiss as the District 5 city councilman.

With 100% of the precincts reporting, Koretz had 50.5% of the vote while Vahedi had 49.5%. It was not immediately clear how many provisional ballots still needed to be counted in the Westside/Valley district.

[Updated at 10:15 a.m.: It could take at least a week for a definitive outcome in the close race, according to an official in the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office. Provisional and mail-in ballots will need to be counted, which will be done in blocks on Tuesdays and Fridays. Final election results will be certified June 16.]

Koretz was the consummate political insider while Vahedi aligned himself with residents upset at City Hall.

Vahedi tried to link Koretz to the budget crisis in Sacramento and warned that the former lawmaker would embrace the status quo.

Koretz, in turn, tried to shred Vahedi's image as a reformer.

 

"I'm holding my breath. I was hoping to be a little further ahead, but if this holds up, I'll be perfectly happy to win by five or six points," Koretz said of the early returns.

 

-- David Zahniser and Shelby Grad

 

Other election results:

Trutanich defeats Weiss in L.A. city attorney's race

Chu defeats Cedillo in 32nd Congressional District

California voters kill budget measures

Comments

[Bill]

I think Vahedi will end up winning this one from absentee ballots. He was strongest within the communities where absentee voting is more the norm. They're both good guys so District 5 is probably a winner in any case.