Imelda Padilla takes early lead in election to fill Valley City Council seat

Community activist Imelda Padilla led Tuesday night in initial returns in the special election to represent the eastern and central San Fernando Valley on the Los Angeles City Council.

Marisa Alcaraz, Rose Grigoryan and Marco Santana trailed Padilla.

The results could shift as more mail-in ballots are counted in the coming days. If no candidate gets more more than 50% of the vote, a June runoff between the top two finishers is planned.

Padilla, Alcaraz and Santana had ample funding and powerful elected officials supporting their campaigns for the District 6 seat. The race featured seven candidates total, including political newcomers, former and current aides to elected officials, and community volunteers.

Santana, who works for a homelessness services provider, is endorsed by L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman. Padilla is backed by Rep. Tony Cardenas and City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez. Alcaraz, a top advisor to City Councilmember Curren Price, has his support.

Grigoryan raised more than $59,000 and drew support from the region's Armenian community. She runs a marketing company and formerly worked as a journalist.

The District 6 seat became available after Nury Martinez resigned in October following revelations that she made racist remarks in a closed-door meeting.

Unions, corporations and other special interests pumped more than $270,000 into the race, with most of those funds supporting Padilla and Alcaraz.

A committee backed by the city's police union spent more than $70,000 to oppose Santana over his stance against a city law barring homeless camps from some areas.

Turnout was expected to be relatively low because of voter apathy and a distrust of city government. Still, some Valley residents said the incident involving Martinez spurred them to vote.

"It was somewhat shocking to the community," said Robin Rosecrans, 33, after he left a Van Nuys voting center on Tuesday. "I wanted to have my voice heard."

Rosecrans would not say who he voted for. But he said he picked the candidate that he believed would be most effective at handling crime, his top concern.

In Sun Valley, Alison Quevedo dropped off her family's vote-by-mail ballots at a voting center. Quevedo, 23, said her mother was a big fan of Padilla, so everyone in the family voted for her.

Quevedo's neighborhood was blanketed with Padilla signs, she added, and Padilla was the only candidate who knocked on her family's door.

"Her team was really on it," Quevedo said.

Santana arrived early Tuesday morning at a Van Nuys voting center. His mother, Maria, joined him although she is ineligible to vote because she lives just outside the district.

The candidate was up by 5 a.m. to put fliers on residents' doors, he said.

"I feel good," said Santana, as a television news camera operator set up in the parking lot to film him.

Vote by mail ballots that are postmarked by election day will be accepted until April 11. The winner will face another election for this seat in March 2024, when Martinez's term was due to expire.

Homelessness was one of the top issues in the race.

Alcaraz and Padilla approve of 41.18, the city's anti-camping law, arguing restrictions are needed around schools, parks and other areas. Grigoryan supports it, but wants changes in how it’s carried out. Santana opposes the law.

The biggest drama in the race centered around campaign fliers. A door hanger sent by Santana's campaign drew complaints from the L.A. County Democratic Party because the hanger stated the candidate was endorsed by the Democratic Party. (The county Democratic Party didn't endorse in the race.)

Scott Mann, Santana’s communications director, defended the flier by saying that Santana has the support of several Democratic clubs, including the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley.

A mailer sent by a committee associated with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 700 also drew criticism for inaccurately stating Alcaraz was endorsed by Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión. The paper hasn't endorsed anyone and the union, which is supporting Alcaraz, issued an apology.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.