It’s been almost two weeks since Election Day,
And while we’re still waiting for every ballot to be tallied, we now have a pretty good idea of how many of the races will shake out, though we’ll be glued to the election results until the final votes are counted in the beginning of December.
Last week, we gave you our early insights about how the ballot this year reflected a massive effort to uplift femme leadership, codify gender justice, hold law enforcement accountable, and showed the kinds of values-aligned policies that CA voters want.
Our own DEFENDERS OF JUSTICE have made history this year. Not only did they change the conversation around judicial elections and representation, they also started new ones, tearing the establishment wide open by exposing the challenges and biases they faced in the judicial rating process, as well as on the campaign trail. Each candidate received hundreds of thousands of votes, and we are deeply proud of them, and so grateful to have shared in this journey with them. We are all changed by this experience, and inspired to continue our work to #TransformTheJudiciary of LA County. But wait, there’s more…
🔥✨HOLLY HANCOCK✨🔥
is dominating her race for Seat 70 on the LA Superior Court, which means…
Holly will be the *first-ever public defender elected to the LA Superior Court. 🤯
*Holly will be elected at the same time as Patrick Hare, a Deputy Public Defender we also elected to the LA Superior Court Seat 151 in this midterm! Huge congratulations to both Holly and Patrick for your historic victories!
WHERE WE ARE
🔥 Measure A is slaying with over 70% of the vote in support of Sheriff Accountability.
🔥 Measures LH and ULA, both addressing the current housing crisis and beyond, are both winning with healthy margins.
🔥 Progressive candidate for LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia has obliterated his opponent.
🔥 In the LA Mayoral race, former grassroots activist Karen Bass has been called as the winner of this race, with a growing lead over billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who outspent Bass by at least 7.5 times (Caruso’s $100mm+ to the $12.5mm spent on the Bass campaign).
🔥 In City Council District 13, LA community activist and organizer Hugo Soto Martinez will win his race.
🔥 For Board of Supervisors, District 3, progressive Lindsey Horvath has overtaken a well-funded, pay-to-play establishment politician with close ties to law enforcement by a growing margin, crushing his early lead. She will be our next Supervisor for this district.
🔥 In a win for gender justice and human rights, CA State Measure 1 will codify the right to reproductive healthcare into our State constitution.
🔥 In the State Senate, Caroline Menjivar, Maria Elena Durazo, and Lola Smallwood Cuevas are winning their races handily, while in the State Assembly, Isaac Bryan has overwhelming support from voters.
We were thrilled to hear corrupt LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva conceded the race to his opponent on Tuesday afternoon. Bye, Alex.
Election results are clear: California voters won’t be bought, and are ready to stand in solidarity and vote for #progressive #CareFirst policies, accountability, and candidates who work for our communities instead of perpetuating harmful systems of oppression.
Building the future we want doesn’t happen overnight, and the work doesn’t stop when we drop off our ballots. Stay tuned to La Defensa on Instagram for updates as the election drama continues to unfold, and learn how you can plug in to our work. Keep reading to check out what’s happening with our community partners in the coming week.
In solidarity,
The LD Team
🫶🏼
P.S. A note for our readers – we’ll be sending out the Roundup a little infrequently for the duration of this year. Instead of your normal Friday Roundup, expect special editions through mid-January as we take some time as an organization to rest and practice sustainability through the winter season.
