Horvath declares victory in Los Angeles County supervisors race
By Peter Rassmus and Rachel Van Nostrand
3 November 2019
The Democratic Party came out of the November 8 elections with complete control of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, defeating the Republican incumbent and three challengers—including Los Angeles City Councilmen Mitchell Englander and José Huizar—and elected two incumbents as well as running unopposed for seats, bringing the tally up to a total of seven supervisors.
This puts the Democrats in a position to completely remake the political landscape in a major metropolitan area and for the first time has a Republican supervisor on the board.
In a statement, the county Democratic executive committee congratulated the three defeated candidates and praised the work of their campaigns to combat the growing income inequality of Los Angeles County and the influence of corporate money.
“The election of the progressive candidates in the Board and city offices is a welcome change to a long period of gridlock where county executives were chosen by a board of two Republicans and two Democrats,” the statement said.
“The Democratic Party has emerged as the dominant political force in this area and we look forward to working with everyone to build upon these achievements.”
“Supervisors,” the statement concluded, “have a key role in the day-to-day operations of County government from budgeting to managing courtrooms and managing vital services.”
All of the elected Democratic supervisors received a vote of confidence from the Democratic Party, which endorsed them in their races.
In addition, the county Democratic Party’s executive director, Jim Allison, announced the endorsements of the two Democratic candidates running unopposed for seats on the board—Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John Roll. Allison said that Roll would be a “fantastic addition” to the board and its work as a third ranking supervisor on the board.
Allison pointed to the role Roll will play in the Democratic Party’s war on California’s environmental movement as the candidate of a new Green Party movement.
Roll, the only elected Green Party member to run unopposed in a primary, faces Republican supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas in the November election to continue serving in the board.
It is not possible to analyze the political impact of this election in Los Angeles County, where it was