Los Angeles County voters will cast ballots Tuesday in two very different races for county supervisor.
In District 1, state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) is one of five candidates vying to succeed Hilda Solis, who is up against the term limit after more than a decade on the Board of Supervisors. A former labor leader, Durazo has a big lead in campaign contributions, collecting nearly $75,000 this year, leaving her with about $642,000 on hand as of May 16, according to the latest finance reports.
District 1 includes East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.
In District 3, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath is hoping to secure a second four-year term representing an area that includes the San Fernando Valley and the fire-ravaged communities of Pacific Palisades and Malibu. Horvath has raised about $190,000 this year for her reelection effort, far outpacing her three challengers and leaving her with nearly $413,000 on hand on May 16.
There has been no public polling on either race, so it’s unclear which candidates are favored among voters.
Before entering electoral politics, Durazo was a longtime labor organizer and served as the first female leader of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. She is endorsed by both the L.A. County Democratic Party and a long list of top Democratic leaders, including U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.
Durazo said in an interview that, if elected, she would work to tackle poverty and support jobs that pay living wages, which she has said would raise people’s standards of living while saving the county money by reducing the burden on county assistance programs.
“To me, the core is how do people make higher wages so that they can pay for all the things that they need,” she said, explaining that she would pursue policies aimed at reducing wage theft, providing more workforce development and otherwise helping workers.
Durazo has authored successful legislation in Sacramento to close loopholes that make it easier for landlords to evict tenants and introduced legislation to create a tax credit for businesses that hire homeless people.
Noel Almario is one of four other candidates in the race. A birth doula and family healthcare consultant who lives in El Sereno, Almario said that as a single mother of four and lifelong L.A. County resident, she knows the struggles of working Angelenos well.
“My motivation for running is that kids, women, families, my friends, my neighbors, the residents around me of L.A. County, are struggling and they don’t have to be,” Almario said in an interview.
Elaine Alaniz, the lone Republican in the nonpartisan race, is a public affairs professional and president of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council. Endorsed by the L.A. County Republican Party, she lost a previous bid for state Assembly and a write-in campaign for L.A. City Council.
In a statement, Alaniz said her priorities were “improving public safety, addressing homelessness through accountability and treatment focused solutions, expanding workforce and apprenticeship opportunities, strengthening emergency preparedness, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and transparently.”
Annabella Figueroa Mazariegos is listed as an L.A. county employee in campaign filings. She didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The other candidate in the race is David Argudo, the former La Puente mayor, who didn’t respond to requests for an interview.
Horvath, the former mayor of West Hollywood, has been endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party and high-profile Democrats, including Schiff, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Solis and Supervisor Janice Hahn.
Horvath has been a vocal advocate for victims of the Palisades fire, which ignited Jan. 7, 2025, destroying nearly 7,000 buildings and killing 12.
Horvath, whose campaign didn’t respond to requests for an interview, has proposed and voted for efforts to make the rebuilding process easier and slammed President Trump repeatedly for withholding federal relief funds and imposing tariffs that have affected construction costs.
Tonia Arey, one of the three challengers in the race, said Horvath didn’t do enough to help prevent the fire.
“Had the incumbent performed her job when she got into office, she would have seen there was no water in the reservoir, that water levels were low … but she did nothing,” said Arey, a real estate agent who lives in the Valley.
Candidate Tomás Sidenfaden, a software developer and entrepreneur who lives in Century City, also criticized how the county handled the fire.
“People lost their homes, people died. We need to be able to take accountability for this,” said Sidenfaden, who said his main goal as supervisor would be to tackle homelessness.
The third challenger, Carmenlina Minasova, is a medical professional who lives in the Valley. She didn’t respond to requests for an interview.
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