Heather Hutt jumped to a fast lead Tuesday evening in her bid for a full four-year term as the City Councilwoman for District 10, though challenger Grace Yoo was only a few hundred votes behind the incumbent.
Hutt was leading with 37.1% of early-voting returns, followed by attorney Yoo, who grabbed 30.7% of the vote. Per election rules, it appears Hutt and Yoo will face each other in a runoff in the general election on Nov. 5.
The remaining candidates, pastor and community organizer Eddie Anderson received 13.3% of the vote, followed by small-business owner and environmental activist Aura Vásquez with 12.4% and former assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer snaring 6.28%.
The early-voting results comprise of vote-by-mail ballots that arrived before election day, as well as ballots cast at vote centers before Tuesday.
After Tuesday night, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will release daily updates for the next two weeks. The election results are set to be certified at the end of the month, March 29.
Heather Hutt was appointed as caretaker City Councilwoman for District 10 last year following the indictment and conviction of Mark Ridley-Thomas on federal corruption charges.
The 10th District encompasses the Central L.A. neighborhoods of Arlington Heights, Koreatown, Mid-City, Palms, South Robertson, West Adams and Wilshire Center.
Hutt previously served as chief of staff to former City Councilman Herb Wesson and is the first woman to represent the District 10.
Her appointment by the City Council following Ridley-Thomas’ ouster drew criticism from some in the district who had pushed instead for a special election. City officials said at the time that would be too costly — though voters in District 6 did get a special election following the resignation of former Council President Nury Martinez in 2022.
Hutt, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee, has used her brief time on the body to advocate for street safety improvements.
She said her priorities, if elected, will be addressing homelessness with a housing-first strategy, moving Angelenos on the streets quickly into interim housing and eventually into permanent housing. In addition, Hutt wants to create more jobs and improving her area by addressing potholes, adding more parks and more.
Recently, she came under fire for a political mailer sent to voters in January. The mailer showed a picture of Hutt and Mayor Karen Bass and a list of endorsements. It also included a list of official city resources and a logo that identified Hutt as a City Council member.
According to the L.A. City Ethics Commission, it is a violation of ethics regulations for city officials to use their city title or position to support a candidate for office, including themselves.
Mike Shimpock, Hutt’s campaign consultant, told the Los Angeles Times that the campaign was not responsible for the mailing, adding someone had altered a flier and sent it out to voters.
Yoo said her priorities would focus on bolstering public safety by investing in resources for social work, mental health clinicians and community outreach teams to allow the Los Angeles Police Department to focus its resources and manpower more on crime.
In addition, she wants to build new housing and rehabilitate old buildings, supports improving public transportation and advocates for City Hall reform.
Anderson, senior pastor of the McCarty Memorial Church in West Adams and a member of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness, has called homelessness the “moral crisis of our time.”
He said his other focuses would be to support legacy small businesses and small businesses run by women, immigrants and people of color.
On public safety, Anderson said he would prioritize mental health services, and wants to add community safety ambassadors, more youth and senior programs, and create more parks and green spaces.