Incumbent Eunisses Hernandez Friday declared victory in her bid for a second term to represent the City Council’s First District, defeating four challengers who sought to oust the progressive candidate.
Hernandez received 12,459 votes, or 53.03% of the votes, as of Thursday’s vote tally by the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder-County Clerk. The incumbent had a 8,480-vote lead over Maria Lou Calanche, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission, who held second place with 3,979 votes, or 16.94%.
Raul Claros, a chief executive of UNO Partners, a government relations firms, came in third with 2,708 votes, or 11.53%, followed by executive consultant Nelson Grande and former council aide Sylvia Robeldo, who each received less than 2,500 of the votes.
While it was unknown how many ballots still remain to be tallied from Tuesday’s primary, if results hold, Hernandez is set to avoid a runoff in November, with voters supporting the incumbent with more than 50% of the votes.
In a social media post Friday, Hernandez declared victory.
“First and foremost, thank you to the residents of Council District 1 who placed their trust in me for another term. Thank you for believing in a vision of Los Angeles where no one is left behind, where working people have a seat at the table and where your tax dollars are invested back into the neighborhoods, services and infrastructure that improve our quality of life,” Hernandez wrote in her post.
“The final ballots are still being counted, but the outcome is clear: together, we earned another term for our community and our movement,” Hernandez added.
During her campaign, Hernandez touted her accomplishments such as co-authoring the city’s “Sanctuary City” ordinance, supporting “Know Your Rights” workshops and legal resource fairs for residents. She also touted efforts to address public safety concerns in MacArthur Park, securing more than $27 million in public and private funding since she took office to improve the park — a site known for crime and illegal activity.
Hernandez was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist of America Los Angeles Chapter and the Working Families Party, among several other organizations. The incumbent had also raised about $354,078K in campaign contributions, which was about $161,520 more than Calanche, who raised $192,558 in campaign contributions.