Marqueece Harris-Dawson returned to his office Wednesday with resounding support from voters who handed him an easy win in his bid for a third and final term as City Councilman from District 8.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election showed the incumbent with 78.5% of the vote, trouncing his two opponents, Cliff Smith and Jahan Epps, who were a distant second and third with 14.2% and 7.2% of the vote, respectively. Harris-Dawson’s strong showing allowed him to reclaim his seat outright and avoid a November runoff.
He also won the District 8 seat outright in both his previous council primaries — capturing more than 62% of the vote in 2015 and running unopposed in 2020.
He will be barred by term limits from seeking the seat again.
The South Los Angeles district seat that encompasses the neighborhoods of Vermont Knolls, King Estates, Canterbury Knolls, Park Mesa Heights, Baldwin Hills, Hyde Park, Chesterfield Square, Vermont Vista, Green Meadows, View Heights and West Park Terrace.
Smith is a roofer and union community organizer. Epps is a business owner and real estate broker.
Harris-Dawson — who chairs the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee and is former president and CEO of the nonprofit Community Coalition — touted on his campaign website his policies “that combat homelessness, create quality jobs, clean streets, and encourage community policing.”
On homelessness, Harris-Dawson has called for more affordable housing, as well as more public amenities such as parks, groceries and other services for the community. He’s also worked to enshrine strong renter protections in his district, and said he would continue to proactively push to prevent more residents from becoming homeless.
He also wants to increase temporary shelters and improve the conditions at existing ones, as well as add more mental health and substance abuse facilities.
Harris-Dawson and Smith have called for more transparency and accountability from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Harris-Dawson wants more community-engaged policing through programs such as senior lead officers, community partnership and unarmed responses to people experiencing mental health emergencies.
In addition, he has pushed for an end to traffic stops by armed LAPD officers, telling the Los Angeles Times, “I don’t know any driver of color who has not been part of what they consider an unjustified police stop. You cannot do policing in communities that do not trust them.”