LOS ANGELES — Polls opened Tuesday across California in a June primary election that will help determine Los Angeles’ next mayor, signaling a pivotal moment in the city’s history. It’s also a test for San Francisco’s progressive prosecutor.
Voters will cast their ballots for governor and U.S. senator as well, though Democrats Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla don’t face stiff competition and are expected to win.
Early turnout was dismal before polling sites opened Tuesday. Every registered voter in the state was mailed a ballot, but only 15% had gotten them to election officials or weighed in at early in-person vote centers by Monday evening, according to election data reviewed by the consulting firm Political Data Intelligence.
The Los Angeles mayor’s race is among the most competitive on the ballot. City voters, beset by a homelessness crisis, crime and a skyrocketing housing market, are in a pessimistic mood. The three top candidates are U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., billionaire developer Rick Caruso and L.A. City Councilman Kevin de León.
A poll published Sunday showed 38% of likely voters support Bass. Caruso, who has bombarded L.A. airwaves with millions of dollars of advertising, has 32% support.
With 15% of likely voters saying they were still undecided, either of the two could still come out on top in the primary, but it’s unlikely either candidate would win the 50% needed to avoid a November runoff.
At a polling place in Lincoln Heights early Tuesday, volunteers said they’d seen only a few voters trickling in.
“It’s been slow," said Cristin Doyle, the lead poll worker at the Lincoln Park Senior Citizen Center.
The voting center, which has been open for more than a week, hasn’t seen more than 20 voters per day, Doyle said, adding that she didn’t expect more than a few hundred people to come in Tuesday.
Some arrived looking for a “secure place” to drop off their mail-in ballots, while several voters said they were motivated by rising homelessness in the region.
“I’m fed up,” said Paul Pulido, a 63-year-old security manager.
Pulido, a Republican, said he came out to vote against Newsom and for Caruso. The polls sat across from train tracks, where there is normally a line of rundown RVs housing people.
“This park used to be beautiful,” he said.
Marta Godoy, a Lincoln Heights resident, said she was tired of a lack of action combating the homelessness crisis.
“They talk and they talk. Everyone makes promises, but then nothing happens,” she said of politicians.
Still, the 66-year-old Mexican immigrant said she was moved by the personal story of her local city councilman, de León, who is running for mayor.
“He’s the son of immigrants,” she said.
The election comes after a frantic few weeks of campaigning across the city, which has included increasingly personal and partisan attacks slung from each camp. Caruso’s supporters have attacked Bass’ attendance record in Congress, while Bass’ backers have talked nonstop about the businessman previously being registered as a Republican, as well as his previous ties to politicians who oppose abortion.
Since Caruso announced his candidacy in February, the Los Angeles Times’ polling has found the contest to be largely a two-person race, with Caruso and Bass appealing to contrasting bases of support.
Concerns over rising crime have provided the driving force behind Caruso’s campaign, which early on drew strong support from more conservative Angelenos, especially white voters. Over time, however, he also has won over a growing number of Latino and Black male voters, the poll found. Bass gained ground with the biggest segments of the city’s electorate — her fellow Democrats, liberals and women. She also has maintained a strong lead among Black women, the poll found.
L.A. voters also will weigh in on a new city attorney and city controller as well as several City Council races. The District 3 Board of Supervisors seat is up for grabs, as are seats on the Los Angeles school board.
Among the competitive statewide races is the bid for attorney general, an election that comes amid debate over rising crime and the impact of decades of criminal justice reform in California. Democratic incumbent Rob Bonta is up against an independent, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, and two Republicans, former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman and Los Angeles attorney Eric Early.
San Francisco voters will decide whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was elected in 2019 on a platform of criminal justice reform but has faced backlash over crime and homelessness.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who has weathered criticism after racist comments he made while discussing the case of a Black defendant, faces several challengers.
In the race for California controller, Republicans hope a divided field of Democrats will allow the party’s single candidate to emerge on top.
But even then, Democrats are likely to have the advantage in November. Republicans have not won a general election for statewide office since 2006, the year Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nabbed reelection and Steve Poizner became insurance commissioner.
