In a race marked by controversy, Khallid Al-Alim held a two-vote lead over Sherlett Hendy Newbill in the race for Los Angeles Unified’s District One seat in semi-final returns Wednesday morning.
County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan announced the semi-final results for Tuesday’s Presidential Primary Election early Wednesday. A total of 910,857 ballots were counted, with 16% of registered voters casting ballots. Many outstanding ballots remained to be counted, Logan said, but an official number was not announced. The first post-election day update is scheduled for later today, March 6.
Two LAUSD board candidates were rattled by controversy. One was accused of agreeing with antisemitic posts on social media and lost his backing from United Teachers Los Angeles, and another was temporarily removed from her LAUSD administration job due to a lawsuit against her.
County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan announced the semi-final results for the Presidential Primary Election early Wednesday. A total of 910,857 ballots were counted, with 16% of registered voters casting ballots. Many outstanding ballots remained to be counted, Logan said, but an official number was not announced. The first post-election day update is scheduled for later today, March 6, and the official results won’t be known until later this month.
Candidates are vying to represent the board’s odd-numbered districts 1, 3, 5 and 7, with two incumbents running for their seats and two empty seats. The powerful seven-member Board of Education oversees policy for the Los Angeles Unified School District — the second-largest district in the nation.
See the latest election results.
Candidates who get more than 50% of the vote will avoid a runoff. Otherwise, the top two finishers in each of the four districts will advance to the November general election. For some races, the primary results may not be known for days or weeks, while votes are being counted.
The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) made a dramatic move on Monday, March 4, withdrawing its powerful endorsement of candidate Kahllid Al-Alim. He had been criticized for his activity on X, formerly Twitter, which was decried as antisemitic, and for following accounts that were sexually explicit.
And in the LAUSD District 5 race, candidate Graciela Ortiz was accused of employing a campaign worker who assaulted a minor. Ortiz has lost the backing of a key school employee labor union.
LAUSD District 1
In South L.A., seven candidates are running for a seat that will be left empty by the departure of George McKenna.
Al-Alim was leading with 9,103 votes, or 22.29%. Candidate Sherlett Hendy Newbill, a former teacher, coach and mentor who is now a policy advisor to LAUSD board member George McKenna — who endorsed her — was close behind with 9,101 votes, or 22.28%
Candidate DeWayne Davis, a former teacher and principal in L.A., now an educational strategist, was in third place with 17.87%.
The remaining four candidates trailed behind with 16% or less of the vote, and they included Didi Watts, an educator with 15.2%; Rina Tambor, a tutor, with 9.54%; Christian Flagg, director of training at Community Coalition, founded by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass with 8%; and John Aaron Brasfield, an educator and coach, with 4.7%.
Al-Alim, a community organizer and janitor born in the district found himself in a controversy over his online comments about sexually explicit images and antisemitic books. He apologized on his campaign website.
UTLA board’s late-hour decision on March 4 to drop its support for Al-Alim could impact the outcome. In addition to UTLA’s action, the L.A. County Federation of Labor had suspended its campaign activities in support of Al-Alim.
LAUSD District 3
LAUSD board member Scott Schmerelson is running for reelection against four candidates to represent West San Fernando Valley and has represented the district since 2015. He was dominating the race with 41.5% of the vote, compared to second-place candidate Dan Chang, a nonprofit leader and a math teacher at LAUSD’s James Madison Middle School who got 29.5%.
The lagging candidates included Raquel Villalta, an educator, with 13.2%; Elizabeth Badger, a parent, with 8.8%; and Andreas Farmakalidis, a veteran and owner of a music school with 7%.
LAUSD District 5
District 5 gets a new representative this year with four candidates running to replace retiring board President Jackie Goldberg. District 5 includes Koreatown and Pico-Union and takes in much of Southeast L.A. County, from South Gate to Vernon.
In early returns, Graciela Ortiz was in front with 32.8% of the votes, followed by Karla Griego, a special education teacher for 20 years from Eagle Rock with 31.87% of the votes. Just over 300 votes separated the two candidates.
Ortiz is a former Huntington Park City Council member and mayor. In February, Local 500 of the California School Employees Association rescinded its endorsement of Ortiz after a lawsuit alleged she was liable for the sexual assault of a minor by one of her campaign workers. Ortiz’s campaign says the lawsuit was politically motivated.
Educator Fidencio Gallardo, a deputy to Goldberg and the mayor of Bell, followed with 23.5% of the votes, and Victorio Gutierrez of South Gate, a retired teacher and principal, had 11.7% of the votes.
LAUSD District 7
Incumbent Tanya Ortiz Franklin is being challenged by Lydia Gutierrez in a district that covers the South Bay and Harbor Area regions. Franklin has emphasized her experience and significant board resolutions and was leading with 53.8% in early results. Gutierrez, a teacher for more than 25 years, and active in the California Teachers Association, had 46.2%.
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