Politics & Government
Carrillo Takes Lead In Race To Rep Highland Park-Mount Washington
Wendy Carrillo and Luis Lopez square off again in the runoff race to replace Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez in Highland Park-Mount Washington.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Community activist Wendy Carrillo held a 943-vote lead over nonprofit health care director Luis Lopez with all 129 precincts reporting in Tuesday's 51st Assembly District special election, but still many ballots to be counted, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan said.
Carrillo received 8,811 votes, 52.83 percent, to 7,868 for Lopez, 47.17 percent. Both candidates are Democrats.
Turnout was 7.61 percent. An updated ballot count will be released Friday, Logan said.
Find out what's happening in Highland Park-Mount Washingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Carrillo and Lopez topped a 13-candidate field in the Oct. 3 special election, with Carrillo receiving 5,058 votes, 22.2 percent, and Lopez 4,243, 18.6 percent. A runoff was required because no candidate had more than 50 percent of the vote.
The special election was prompted by then-Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez's election to Congress in a special election June 6.
Find out what's happening in Highland Park-Mount Washingtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The district includes Echo Park, Chinatown, Glassell Park, Montecito Heights, Monterey Hills, El Sereno, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Lincoln Heights, City Terrace, Eagle Rock, East Los Angeles and a portion of Silver Lake.
Carrillo, who was brought to the country as an "undocumented immigrant" from El Salvador but became a U.S. citizen in her 20s, was a host and producer on the "Knowledge is Power" radio program on Power 106 FM, discussing topics ranging from access to higher education to political transparency. She also worked with the Service Employees International Union, supporting organizing efforts by long-term care workers.
Lopez has been a board member of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles for seven years and is a former president of the Los Angeles East Area Planning Commission.
An East Los Angeles native, Lopez is a former senior consultant at KPMG Consulting, and was an analyst at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In 2005, he co-founded Honor PAC, a statewide Latina/o LGBT political action committee. He also led the Latino Coalition Against AIDS to promote awareness and prevention of AIDS.
City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock