Politics & Government

Mitch O'Farrell Wins Council District 13 Runoff


With 100 percent of the precincts counted, Mitch O'Farrell appears to have won the  Los Angeles City Council District 13 seat opening in July currently held by his termed-out former boss Eric Garcetti, the new mayor-elect of Los Angeles.

Tallies from the Los Angeles City Clerk show O'Farrell winning the race by a margin of 53.05 percent to his opponent John Choi's 46.94 percent.

Garcetti's margin over his opponent Wendy Greuel in the mayor's race was 53.92 to 46.07.

At a party at the St. Felix in Hollywood, O'Farrell and his campaign staff were initially reluctant to claim victory, predicting a long night of returns watching.

But around midnight the mood changed with the candidate grabbing a mike to address the crowd, who hailed from virtually all neighborhoods included in District 13, where O'Farrell worked as a staffer for Garcetti for nine years.
 
"I'm full of love for the City Council District that I used to work with," he said.  "And it looks like on July 1, I am going to get to work with them again."

O'Farrell thanked many in his speech including his campaign manager Renee Nahum, Echo Park activist Christine Peters, the youth organization Aztecs Rising, councilmembers Tom LaBonge and Bill Rosendahl and Congressman Xavier Becerra.

He also gave a big hug to Sam Kbushyan and Alex de Ocampo, two of his opponents in the primary race who had helped support his campaign in the runoff.

O'Farrell also noted that there was "plenty of healing to be done" after a campaign that was full of acrimony, including claims of ballot tampering and violence.

Nahum told Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch that she felt the Choi campaign might also launch a challenge against mail-in votes if the margin was close.

In Echo Park, the Choi campaign gathered in Echo Park at Mohawk Bend at a well-attended event in the restaurant's back room.

A video prepared by the campaign chronicled Choi's accomplishments.

At around 10 p.m., Choi introduced his brother, sister, mother and father to the crowd, emphasizing their backgrounds as immigrants and the long journey they had made as a family to come to this point.

Choi, a former Public Works Commissioner,  outfundraised the O'Farrell campaign by at least a 2-1 margin, and the event at Mohawk Bend reflected that, with liberal portions of appetizers and snacks being served to the crowd.


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