LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Community relations manager Imelda Padilla and council aide Marisa Alcaraz are headed for a runoff to decide who will represent the Los Angeles City Council’s 6th District, with Alcaraz solidifying her second-place showing in last week’s special election in the latest voting update released Tuesday.
Padilla leads the seven-candidate field with 3,424 votes, or 25.66%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Alcaraz is second with 2,819 votes, 21.13%, 296 votes ahead of homeless services manager Marco Santana.
Only 88 ballots are left to be counted, with final results slated to be certified Friday.
Because no candidate received a majority in the April 4 election, the top two finishers will meet in a runoff, whose deadline to cast ballots is June 27.
Tuesday’s update included 23 new certified ballots. Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan said 88 vote-by-mail ballots are pending signature cures from voters whose signature was missing on the return envelope or did not match their registration record. These voters have been notified with instructions on how to cure their ballot to be counted, and the Registrar’s Office will accept cure notices through Wednesday.
The total election results count is now 13,506, which is just 11.40% of registered voters in the district.
The district consists of Van Nuys, Arleta, Lake Balboa, Panorama City, Sun Valley and the eastern portions of North Hills and North Hollywood.
Former Council President Nury Martinez represented the district until October, when she resigned her council presidency and then, two days later, her seat altogether after she was caught making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly taped and leaked to the news media.
The 6th District is being overseen by a non-voting caretaker, the city’s chief legislative analyst, Sharon Tso. A non-voting caretaker does not hold a seat on the council, but oversees the council office to make sure the district provides constituent services and other basic functions.
The winner of the special election will finish Martinez’s term, which ends in December 2024.
Padilla has pledged to prioritize “an immediate solution to the unhoused crisis because what is currently occurring is not working.”
“I will propose an emergency remediation of encampments, connecting the unhoused population to essential services that will support them in finding housing, employment, and health services,” Padilla said on her campaign’s website.
“I will work cohesively with all stakeholders, residents, non-profits organizations, religious leaders, business owners and health organizations to develop and implement sensible hyper-local solutions that make our communities safer, sanitary, and sustainable.”
The 35-year-old Padilla was born in Van Nuys and raised in Sun Valley, graduating from Roscoe Elementary School, Byrd Middle School and Polytechnic High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree from Cal State Northridge.
Alcaraz has said she “will prioritize helping people without homes off our streets and into housing, where they can get the care they need to get back on their feet.”
Alcaraz has said she supports conducting extensive outreach and having a “Housing First” approach.
“We need to continue to invest in outreach teams, especially the multi-disciplinary teams that include a nurse and mental health professional,” Alcaraz said.
The 38-year-old Alcaraz is deputy chief of staff and environmental policy director to Ninth District Councilman Curren Price. She was raised in Lake Balboa, graduating from Birmingham High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine and a master’s degree from USC.