Los Angeles Candidates File To Run In March Primary

“Especially in local elections, because hardly anybody pays attention to those - but it's really important who's mayor and who's on the city council, county commissioners, sheriffs, district attorney, and of course the school board.”

– Jello Biafra

Alongside the Presidential, Senatorial, and House candidates on the ballot for the primary election on March 5, 2024, will be those running for seats on the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles Unified School Board. These “non-partisan” elections are run in a jungle format. If any of the candidates wins over 50% of the vote, then they will be declared the winner and will be sworn into office at the beginning of the next term. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will face each other in the November General Election.

For the last several months, potential candidates have had the opportunity to register with the Los Angeles Ethics Commission so that they could begin fundraising. Then, as long as they had established residency within the boundaries of the office they wanted to run for by October 7, 2023, they were able to start filing a “Declaration of Intention to Become a Candidate” form with the City Clerk on November 6, 2023. This filing period closed today with 26 people indicating that they would attempt to collect enough signatures to appear on the ballot for the four odd-numbered Board seats:

Board District 1:

While the incumbent, George McKenna had initially indicated that he would be running for re-election, he changed his mind a few months later. Even before the filing period began, the field was crowded with eight people raising funds for their campaigns. All of them plus another four submitted the declarations during filing week:

• Sherlett Hendy Newbill
• DeWayne Davis (PROP-39, SpEd)
• Gloria Zuurveen
• Daniel Lee (SpEd)
• Didi Watts
• John Aaron Brasfield
• David Mills
• Kahllid Al-Alim (PROP-39)
• Danielle Lafayette
• Christian Flagg
• Nekishia Lester
• Qyintus Jett

Board District 3:

Incumbent Scott Schmerelson has attracted a large number of competitors, considering that he is running for his last term before term limits kick in. All eight candidates who filed with the Ethics Commission followed through with declarations:

• Elizabeth Badger
• Dan Chang
• Janie Dam (PROP-39)
• Andreas Farmakalidis (PROP-39 , SpEd)
• Byron Gutierrez
• Richard Ramos (PROP-39 , SpEd)
• Scott Schmerelson (PROP-39 )
• Raquel Villalta (PROP-39)

Board District 5:

Three people had been fundraising for campaigns to replace the retiring Jackie Goldberg. One additional candidate joined them in filing declarations:

• Fidencio Joel Gallardo (SpEd)
• Karla Griego (PROP-39 )
• Graciela Ortiz
• Victorio R. Gutierrez

Board District 7:

Supporters of Public Education can buy themselves some breathing room by taking this seat from incumbent Tanya Franklin. Otherwise, they will have to win all three of the other seats. While two challengers had filed with Ethics, only Lydia Gutierrez actually declared:

• Tanya Franklin
• Lydia Gutierrez (PROP-39)

City Council Race Notes:

Kevin De Leon was caught on tape participating in a conversation that was not only astonishing because of the bigotry it included, but because its purpose was to diminish the ability of communities to have representation in City Government. That has not stopped him from attempting to seek re-election in CD 14. One of his 13 opponents, Wendy Carrillo, has filed her declaration despite the fact that she was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

In the Valley, John S. Lee is also running for re-election despite being under investigation for ethics violations. While his designation will be “City Councilmember/Father,” “City Staffer B” would have been more appropriate. He has drawn four competitors.

Next Steps

Candidates must now obtain signatures for their nominating petitions. They have until December 6th to obtain 1,000 valid signatures from registered voters living within the boundaries of the district they seek to represent. They can reduce this requirement to 500 valid signatures if they pay a non-refundable filing fee of $300.00.

As a former candidate, I felt that the collection of signatures was the most stressful part of the campaign process. It may be annoying to be asked for your signature as you leave the grocery store, but most of these candidates are making a sacrifice to put forth new ideas. Signing their petition does not commit you to voting for them, it only gives them an opportunity to make their case. Unless you really disagree with their platform, or they have already proven themselves to be corrupt, please consider helping them out by signing.

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.