A decent race between two Los Angeles school board candidates with big-money supporters bought tighter with the discharge of the newest vote tally Thursday.
Since the top of the primary rely early Wednesday morning, the hole between Maria Brenes and Rocio Rivas has shrunk from 852 votes to 203 votes. Brenes leads with 50.17% of the votes to Rivas’ 49.83% of their bids to characterize District 2, which incorporates downtown, adjoining neighborhoods and far of the Eastside.
In District 6, within the east San Fernando Valley, school board President Kelly Gonez noticed her lead develop over challenger Marvin Rodriguez, from 298 to 1,115 votes. Gonez has 50.94% to 49.06% for Rodriguez, a excessive school Spanish trainer with virtually no campaign money and no major endorsements.
Many votes remain to be counted, and it’s troublesome to predict traits within the remaining votes as a result of ballots might be solid by mail, in particular person at many places throughout L.A. County and over an prolonged time period.
Based on the turnout within the June major, there might nonetheless be 10,000 to 20,000 votes left to be counted in every district.
Updated cash figures by Thursday proceed to present that many of the marketing campaign funding went to the District 2 contest, the place the winner will change longtime incumbent Monica Garcia, who couldn’t run once more due to time period limits.
The Brenes marketing campaign raised $633,613, in contrast with $123,217 raised by Rivas.
The independent spending was larger on either side.
Campaigns on behalf of Brenes spent $5.15 million in optimistic promoting selling Brenes and $434,689 in adverse promoting towards Rivas. One main supply was Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, which represents custodians, cafeteria staff, bus drivers and trainer aides. Another was a political motion committee managed by retired businessman Bill Bloomfield and Netflix founder Reed Hastings, a constitution faculties supporter. This PAC was accountable for the adverse adverts.
The academics union, United Teachers Los Angeles, spent greater than $2.9 million on behalf of Rivas. Union management authorized of Rivas’ need to curtail the expansion and affect of charters, that are privately operated, largely nonunion and publicly funded — and compete with district-operated faculties for college kids.
The union spending additionally included some adverse messages about Brenes, however the union has declined to classify these adverts as adverse campaigning.
Brenes is the chief of the Boyle Heights-based neighborhood group InnerCity Struggle. Rivas is a senior aide to school board member Jackie Goldberg.
