L.A. mayor’s race live: Garcetti, Greuel hold on to their lead

10:39 p.m.

As election results  in the L.A. mayor’s race trickled in Tuesday night, Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti continued to lead the pack in early returns.

Along with a substantial chunk of mail-in ballots, city elections officials have tallied votes from 2.5% of precincts in the city – just a sliver of the ballots likely to be cast.

Opinion polls cast Garcetti and Greuel as the front-runners in the race which, by all indications, will probably be decided in a May runoff between the top-two finishers.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

Councilwoman Jan Perry captured enough votes in the early returns to hold onto third place, with attorney Kevin James, the only Republican in the race, slightly behind her.

In the race for city attorney, former Assemblyman Mike Feuer and incumbent Carmen Trutanich were locked in a tight contest. City Councilman Dennis Zine was leading in the race for city controller.

A measure to add a half-cent to the city’s sales tax continued to trail in early returns. The measure, Proposition A, would bring sales taxes in Los Angeles to 9.5%, one of the highest rates in the state, and raise $200 million a year for the city treasury.

9:37 p.m.

With more than 111,000 mail-in ballots tallied in Tuesday’s Los Angeles city election, Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel pulled out to early leads in the race for mayor--with the two running virtually neck-and-neck.

Councilwoman Jan Perry trailed in third place, according to the early returns.

Still, it was far too early in the vote count for any lead to be secure. Los Angeles has just over 1.8 million registered voters.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

Before the polls opened Tuesday, the city clerk’s office had received 148,846 mail-in ballots from voters in the city, or 8.2% of the total number of registered voters. More voters voted by mail than in the first round of either the 2001 or 2005 city elections, but there are also many more residents who received mail ballots this year than in those elections.

Of the total 663,086 mail-in ballots issued this year, 22.4% had been returned by the start of election day. In 2001 and 2005, a much higher percentage of ballots — about half — had been returned by election day. But the city sent out only about 200,000 mail ballots in each of those elections.

In the race for city attorney, former Assemblyman Mike Feuer was leading incumbent Carmen Trutanich. City Councilman Dennis Zine was leading in the race for city controller.

--Phil Willon and James Rainey

7:08 p.m.

The city of Los Angeles may be in the grips of its most serious and prolonged financial crisis in memory, but voters didn't clamor to the polls Tuesday to decide who should fix the mess.

The election had the mayor’s office, a majority of City Council seats and a half-cent sales tax on the line, but Angelenos only trickled to voting booths -- which closed at 8 p.m.

The city clerk’s office said it expected to post its first returns -- from mail-in ballots received by last Saturday -- a half hour after voting ended.  The timing of final results remains unpredictable because many of the contests -- particularly the half-cent sales tax, Measure A -- are expected to be close.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Los Angeles school board race

Election officials reported no widespread irregularities, although one polling place in Watts closed temporarily in the morning after the shooting of a poll worker. And more than one voting location in the north San Fernando Valley also had to contend with a power outage after nightfall.

Police called the shooting of the 35-year-old poll worker part of a domestic dispute. A hospital treated the worker for injuries that were not life-threatening and the voting place reopened a half-hour later in a mobile polling station next to the auditorium at 92nd Street Elementary School.

The power outage shut down a polling place on Del Sur Street in Pacoima, according to Felipe Fuentes, a council candidate in District 7. Fuentes said he used the light from his mobile phone to help voters find their names on the rolls so they could receive their ballots.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Fewer than 18% of the city’s registered voters cast ballots in the 2009 mayoral election featuring incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa and nine little-known, underfunded challengers. Villaraigoa won a second term outright in the primary, capturing enough of the vote to make a runoff unnecessary.

Thirty-four percent voted four years earlier in the runoff that made Villaraigosa the first Latino mayor in the city’s modern history.

Turnout for the first round of Los Angeles municipal elections is typically low, though most candidates said they hoped the closely contested mayoral race -- being led in recent polls by Councilman Eric
Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel -- would inspire more interest.

PHOTOS: Los Angeles voters go to the polls

After voting Tuesday morning near his Silver Lake home, Garcetti, 42, said he hoped people would come out.

L.A. school board election: Garcia, Zimmer hold early leads

In the Los Angeles school board election, two-term incumbent Monica Garcia was leading strongly in early results Tuesday night in District 2, while Antonio Sanchez took an early lead for the vacant District 6 seat, and one-term incumbent Steve Zimmer led in the race for District 4.

The school board race attracted national money and attention, becoming a battle over the reform policies of Supt. John Deasy.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

In the most expensive battle, Zimmer garnered the support of the teachers union and other employee unions against parent and attorney Kate Anderson, who is backed by the Coalition for School Reform, a political action committee spearheaded by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The coalition amassed a war chest that surpassed $3.8 million in support of candidates considered Deasy allies: Garcia, Anderson and Sanchez.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Monica Ratliff, a former attorney who became a teacher, trailed Sanchez in District 6, which is in the east San Fernando Valley. The early results, however, appear to show the two could be headed for a runoff.

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L.A. city elections: Incumbent council members take early lead

-- Stephen Ceasar

Photo: Steve Zimmer hugs friend and supporter Sharon Delugach as he arrives at an election-night party in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

L.A. mayor election: Greuel backers hope for first female mayor

City Controller Wendy Greuel’s election-night party downtown got started about half an hour after the polls closed with the foot-stomping stylings of the all-women band the Mariachi Divas, a nod to her hope of becoming L.A.’s first female mayor.

As the ballots were being counted, guests sampled calamari and craft beers at the L.A. Brewing Company on South Broadway, which was decorated with blue and green balloons coordinating with Greuel’s campaign logo. Several top supporters addressed the crowd before Greuel arrived, including Police Commissioner John Mack, who said he had known Greuel since the days when she was “a very idealistic, energetic, committed” young aide to former Mayor Tom Bradley.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Los Angeles election update

Mack and the other speakers seemed less focused on Tuesday night’s results than on the expected May runoff.

In keeping with the campaign’s portrayal of Greuel as a pragmatic leader who would focus her efforts toward restoring basic services in the city, Mack said “she can dream the big dreams, think the big thoughts, but she is also a doer, a problem-solver, and that’s what we need in our city at this point in time.”

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

“We have to recognize this as a marathon; tonight was the first mile of that long journey,” Mack said. “Let’s make sure that we get out beginning tomorrow and help her go on to victory.”

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 --Maeve Reston

L.A. election: Villaraigosa's sales tax behind in early voting

A measure to add a half-cent to the city’s sales tax lagged in early voting returns Tuesday.

The increase, Proposition A, would bring sales taxes in Los Angeles to 9.5%, one of the highest rates in the state, and raise $200 million a year for the city treasury. The measure, which trailed in an early count of write-in ballots, received ardent support from Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and a belated endorsement from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who will leave office July 1 after the maximum two terms.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

The measure’s fate will have a major impact on the decisions and policies of the new mayor and City Council, who will face budget deficits projected at $216 million a year and more.

City budget analysts have warned that the tax’s failure could lead to cutbacks in police and fire service, and make it more difficult for the next mayor to balance income and spending.  But critics, including all of the leading candidates to replace Villaraigosa, argued that Los Angeles should balance its books without asking taxpayers for more money.

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L.A. mayor’s race live: Garcetti, Greuel pull out to early lead

L.A. city elections: Incumbent council members take early lead

--Phil Willon

Photo: Olga Korn, 86, walked to the Encino Self Storage on Ventura Boulevard to cast her vote on Tuesday. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

L.A. city elections: Incumbent council members take early lead

 

In the slew of races for Los Angeles City Council, incumbents Paul Koretz on the Westside and Joe Buscaino in the Harbor district jumped out to major leads, according to an early tally of mail-in ballots.

The early returns shed little light on the other council races, however. There are more than 1.8 million registered voters in the city, and just 111,000 mail in ballots were tallied early Tuesday evening.

Still, turnout is expected to be low, so voters who opted to mail in their ballots may have a major impact of the outcome. Before the polls opened Tuesday, the City Clerk’s office had received 148,846 mail-in ballots from voters in the city, or 8.2% of the total number of registered voters.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

Eight of the City Council’s 15 seats are up for grabs, setting the stage for the most dramatic change on the city’s legislative body in a dozen years. With incumbents stepping down in six of those eight races, dozens of candidates stepped forward to seek seats on the council.

The early vote was fractured in the free-for-all council race to represent the Hollywood-Silver Lake district, a contest that probably won’t be decided until far into the vote count. A dozen political hopefuls are running for that seat, which was represented by City Councilman Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor.

In the northwest San Fernando Valley, Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills), jumped to a big  lead in the early returns.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

In a district stretching from Westchester to Pacific Palisades, Mike Bonin surged ahead in the early tally. Bonin served as chief of staff to the district’s current councilman, Bill Rosendahl, who is giving up the Westside council seat to focus on his fight against cancer.

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L.A. mayor’s race live: Garcetti, Greuel pull out to early lead

--Phil Willon

Polling place shooting sparked by 'love triangle,' LAPD says

Los Angeles police on Tuesday night were still seeking a gunman suspected of opening fire in an attack at a polling place that left a worker wounded.

Authorities told The Times on Tuesday night that they had identified a suspect and were confident that he would be arrested. They described the shooting as a "love triangle" turned violent. 

The shooting at 92nd Street Elementary School in Watts followed an argument Tuesday morning outside the campus auditorium, where the polling place was located, police said.

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

The shooter fled the scene and the wounded 35-year-old poll worker ran inside the auditorium. The victim was taken to a local hospital and treated for what police described as wounds that were not life-threatening.

The violence forced authorities to lock the school down briefly and close the polling place for about 30 minutes, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Officials brought a mobile polling place to the scene. Inside the auditorium, a worker in a white suit with a mask and gloves cleaned blood from the floor. A woman was questioned by investigators, but it was unclear what role, if any, she might have had in the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call (877) 527-3247.

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--Andrew Blankstein (twitter.com/anblanx) and Robert J. Lopez (twitter.com/LAJourno)

Photo: Worker cleans blood from the floor at a polling station in a Watts. Credit: Christina House / For The Times

L.A. elections: Join the conversation

Times reporters will join L.A. Now Live at 9 p.m. for a live election update and to answer readers’ questions about the Los Angeles primary.

Lines at polling places were short Tuesday, though the election will result in significant changes in city leadership, with residents selecting a mayor, city attorney, city controller, and eight City Council members

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

As voters headed to the polls, former City Council President Eric Garcetti was locked in a tight race with City Controller Wendy Greuel. In last week’s USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll, Garcetti had support from 27% of those surveyed and Greuel had 25% — a statistical tie because of the margin of error — while the three other major candidates were bunched behind. Former prosecutor and radio host Kevin James was at 15%, City Councilwoman Jan Perry was at 14% and former technology executive Emanuel Pleitez was fifth with 5%.

If no candidate breaks 50%, the top two vote-getters will enter a May runoff.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Turnout by the 1.8 million registered voters in the city is expected by some political observers to be below the 34% seen in 2005 general election, when Antonio Villaraigosa won office to become Los Angeles' first Latino mayor in modern times. The city clerk has issued 663,065 vote-by-mail ballots — about a fifth had been returned by Monday.

The median Los Angeles turnout is 26%, compared to 48% in Chicago, 44% in Philadelphia and 41% in San Francisco, according to a 2007 study by a University of Michigan professor.

L.A. mayor's race comes down to the wire

Voters continued to trickle to the polls across Los Angeles on Tuesday evening to select a new mayor and other officials.

The city's financial crisis has been a central issue in the various campaigns, including Proposition A, a proposed tax increase to help deal with the money crunch.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday disputed the idea that City Hall is "a mess," saying campaign ads that portray the city as being near bankruptcy are not accurate.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Los Angeles primary election

Standing inside his polling place on the day Angelenos pick a new mayor, Villaraigosa touted the city's success at reducing the size of its budget shortfall in the middle of a huge economic downturn. "The idea that the city's a mess just doesn't conform with reality," Villaraigosa said moments after casting his ballot in favor of Proposition A, the half-cent sales tax increase.

Some residents, however, seemed more concerned.

“The city budget is pretty much depleted, and the city’s services are deplorable,” Joe Bui of Woodland Hills said as he emerged from a polling place at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. “They can’t teach the kids, and they can’t maintain the roads, and they’re backed up with trimming trees out here.”

LIVE RESULTS: Los Angeles primary election

Some saw the proposed half-cent tax increase as a chance to improve those services.

“With cuts in federal spending, we’re going to need the extra revenue in Los Angeles if we’re going to keep the same services,” said retired engineer Bill Owen of Canoga Park. 

His wife, Lyn, agreed. “We need to pay for the services we want but we have to use the money wisely,” she said.

Others thought the measure -- which was promoted as a way to shield the Police Department and other public safety agencies from employee cuts -- would do little but put more strain on residents. Backed by key business leaders, Proposition A would push the city’s sales tax rate to 9.5%, among the highest in the state.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

“I don’t think that’s going to solve the problem,” said Leslie Downey of Woodland Hills. “The economy is so poor, people can’t afford to pay more for things they buy.”

Voters consider ballot measures in Redondo Beach and Carson

 

While the contests at Los Angeles City Hall drew much of the spotlight in Tuesday’s election, 29 other cities throughout Los Angeles County held municipal votes of their own.

Voters in Redondo Beach and Carson will decide controversial ballot measures -- one aimed at shutting down a power plant and the other at ousting Carson's longtime mayor.

Redondo Beach residents will vote on Measure A, which would rezone the 50-acre site of the gas-fired AES Redondo Beach plant and would require it to shut down by the end of 2020.

PHOTOS: Los Angeles voters go to the polls

Plant owner AES had been planning to construct a new plant on the site to comply with new state regulations on the use of ocean water for cooling.

If Measure A passes, the California Energy Commission could still choose to permit a new plant, but proponents of the measure say the commission is unlikely to overrule local zoning decisions.

The measure would require that 60% to 70% of the land be converted to parks or open space and would allow commercial development on the rest of it.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

Proponents of the measure say the new plant would pollute more, because despite being more efficient, it would run more often, and that other uses of the land -- like an upscale hotel -- would bring in more revenue to the city.

"We don't want a new power plant on our water front for another 50 years," said Councilman Bill Brand, a co-author of the measure and the only sitting council member who supports it. Brand said AES pays about $400,000 in taxes a year to the city, but that new commercial developments could bring in 10 times as much.

Poll worker shot outside polling place at Watts elementary school

A poll worker was injured Tuesday morning when he was shot outside a polling place at an elementary school in Watts, Los Angeles police said.

The altercation apparently began inside the polling place in the auditorium of the 92nd Street Elementary School in the 9200 block of Grape Street, LAPD Officer Christopher No said. The confrontation escalated outside, where the man was shot shortly before 9:40 a.m.

The victim, a 35-year-old poll worker, suffered injuries described as non-life-threatening, No said. Police said they do not believe the shooting was random. No said the two may have known each other and described the incident as a "domestic dispute."

No said the suspect had been identified by police but had not yet been apprehended.

The school was locked down during the incident. It was not immediately clear if the polling place was affected.

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— Kate Mather

Follow Kate Mather on Twitter or Google+.