Lindsey Horvath has a narrow lead over John Heilman in the latest count of votes in Tuesday’s West Hollywood City Council election.
Today’s count of provisional and mail-in ballots from Tuesday’s West Hollywood City Council Race shows Horvath with 2,004 votes and Heilman with 1,954. Mayor John D’Amico remains a winner with 2,206 votes and challenger Lauren Meister remains in second place with 2,035 votes in the race to fill three Council seats.
There are several hundred provisional ballots yet to be counted. Provisional ballots are those cast by registered voters at other than their designated polling places. They must be vetted by the Los Angeles County Registrar before they can be counted. Also, it’s likely that additional mail-in ballots will arrive in the next few days, which could alter the results.
In office for 30 years, Heilman, a law professor, is the city’s longest-serving Council member. Horvath is the global coordinator for the V-Day One Billion Rising campaign, an effort to end gender-based violence. She was appointed to the Council in 2009 after the death of Councilmember Sal Guarriello. She lost in her re-election bid in 2011 to John D’Amico.
A special election will be held on June 2 to fill the Council seat left vacant by Jeffrey Prang’s election as L.A. County Assessor. Heilman told WEHOville on Tuesday that he would not run in that election if he lost Tuesday’s election.
Candidates for the June 2 election must file with the City Clerk by the end of the day Friday. Those who have publicly declared their interest are Heidi Shink, a writer who is a member of the Planning Commission, and Cole Ettman, manager of a law firm and a member of the Public Utilities Commission. Several candidates who lost in Tuesday’s election are said to be considering another run in June.
Today’s count showed no change in the relative ranking of the eight other candidates. Joe Guardarrama had 1,782 votes, followed by Larry Block (976), James “Duke Mason (360), Matt Ralston (339), Christopher Landavazo (316), Tristan Schukraft (260), Brian Funnagan (89) and John Allendorfer (79).
New totals released –
D’Amico 2,309 (added 103)
Meister 2,136 (added 101)
Horvath 2,133 (added 129)
Heilman 2,065 (68 behind, added 111)
Guardarrama 1,878 (added 96)
@Shawn nails it. Greedy, power hungry and petty. Refusing to talk to a fellow council member for any reason or any amount of time – over politics no less, speaks volumes. He’s out tune. He’s out of touch. And hopefully – he’s out of time. If so, you can bet he’ll run in June; his fragile ego won’t accept defeat. A sincere thanks for your service – now move along.
I’m 64. I was lucky to have been friends with Harry Hay, John Burnside & Jim Kepner who founded the first Gay archives. I’ve never been to a city council meeting. I REMEMBER how JH. AL, JP and like (rrrrrrr,rrrrr,rrrrr) insane Duran, treated Jim among many examples of their dictatorship. Their cause pain & suffering to those Gays less fortunate to maintain their despotism. I learned the power & construct of boycott from Chicano’s Cesar Chavez, NOT bulling. I’ve been boycotting downtown West Hollywood i.e. West Hollywood for the last 15 years. The sight of AL, (a reformed crook, ya… Read more »
john duran must resign, he is an embarrassment to the city, and take his grindr stench with him.
You can make it about me Chris, or talk the facts. Term limits were passed. It limits our elected council members to 3 terms or 12 years. Mr Heilman has had 30 years. He ignored the term limits voice that was spoken into the community and ran again anyways. It appears even with all his connections and assets he lost. To run again I think isn’t respecting the community. We can agree to disagree. But going after me isn’t going to change the facts. Past what he has done…its time for him to let someone else serve. the voters agreed.… Read more »
Exactly Brad. The people complaining about him running are actually really complaining because the voters chose him over and over again (that’s you, Shawn for one). And they could never, ever accept that. I started looking at the other WeHo blog some years ago and now here and was then and am now astounded by the personal venom some (usually the same small #) of posters have for him. To this day, I never have figured it out. It seems personal, not political.
Please don’t be hard on John Heilman just because he has been on the Counsel a long time . Remember the voters must have liked him or they would have removed him.
I agree with Brad. John Heilman has done a lot for West Hollywood and I think this is simply a matter of we need a change. This does not deter from what he has done in the past. He has a very busy schedule and it seems he can’t really show up for our neighborhood affairs, so I believe it is time to hand the baton over to people who can have a fresh look at the city’s needs. We can’t badmouth everyone who hasn’t come in on top of the voting chain. I also take umbrage at someone’s statement… Read more »
Agreed, DK.
I so pleased to see our #weho democracy work, not only in the passing of term limits in the last election. But in the voters showing that they don’t want long term council members. Mr Heilman is the resident of #weho that held on to his seat for 30 years now. Blocking years of availability to another residents opportunity to serve. And he could of gracefully step out of his chair like Land has and shown he heard and respected the voters in the Measure C. Now it would appear hes leaving a loser. His last run a loss, and… Read more »
Take it from a professional psychic, it’s poor form to think your can read peoples’ minds for why they don’t vote. The real reasons will amaze you. By any measure the turnout of voters in this high-stakes election was pathetic. If in the SLIGHTEST you care about the city you live in, the least you can do is VOTE. It doesn’t cost money, and it actually doesn’t cost much time. All it costs is a little bit of time and effort to choose who you think is best suited to lead our city — is that too much to ask?… Read more »
and back to the other key question, will these newly elected councilmembers and the sophmore councilman reform the corruption in the deputy ranks? will they insist on reasonable wages and not these inflated $189,000 per year compensation levels? it’s absurd that these glorified assistants make more than most democratically elected officials. the mayor hires people right off of his political campaign and then stands back and wonders why everyone can’t get along. seriosly, after the past few elections and how dirty and nasty they have been, you wonder why city hall is dysfunctional? and you blame everyone else? come on?… Read more »
And back to a key question – does Duran accept his turn in rotation as Mayor, or does he defer, maybe inspired by D’Amico’s shameless exploitation of the mostly honorary title if he runs for reelection? If so, then welcome Mayor Horvath (since she has seniority and did not serve as mayor during her previous term).