Voters across California will cast their ballots Tuesday in the state's primary election. In the South Bay, residents will vote for a U.S. Senator, a U.S. Representative, a state assemblyman, six superior court judges and a district attorney. Voters will also make decisions regarding term limits, cigarette taxes, hotel occupancy taxes and landfill taxes.
Voters will also select a Republican presidential nominee; however, Mitt Romney has already secured enough delegates for the nomination. Los Angeles County Fourth District Supervisor Don Knabe, who is also up for reelection, is running unopposed.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. To find your polling place or print out a sample ballot, visit lavote.net/locator. If you've filled out an absentee ballot but did not mail it, drop it off at your polling place. Ballots received later than Tuesday will not be counted.
More information on candidates and ballot measures is also available at lavote.net.
Election results will be available at rrccmain.co.la.ca.us after 8 p.m. Tuesday. Patch will also be updating election results on its website.
This will be the first time an open primary—one where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, go on to November's general election—will be used statewide. In the past, residents affiliated with a political party could only vote in the primaries of that political party. The presidential primary remains a closed primary.
Because of last year's redistricting, many will find themselves in new congressional and/or state legislative districts. The new 66th Assembly District covers the Beach Cities, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, while the new 33rd Congressional District is largely coastal and stretches from the Palos Verdes Peninsula up to Malibu.
Below is a list of candidates and ballot measures. Names are in alphabetical order.
U.S. Senator (24 candidates)
- Oscar Alenjandro Braun, businessman/rancher (Republican)
- Kabiruddin Karim Ali, businessman (Peace and Freedom)
- John Boruff, businessman (Republican)
- Greg Conlon, businessman/CPA (Republican)
- Elizabeth Emken, businesswoman/nonprofit executive (Republican)
- Marsha Feinland, retired teacher (Peace and Freedom)
- Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator (Democratic)
- Colleen Shea Fernald, mother/consultant/artist (Democratic)
- Rogelio T. Gloria, graduate student/businessman (Republican)
- Don J. Grundmann, doctor of chiropractic (American Independent)
- Dan Hughes, small business owner (Republican)
- Dennis Jackson, aerospace general manager (Republican)
- Dirk Allen Konopik, MBA student (Republican)
- Donald Krampe, retired administration director (Republican)
- Robert Lauten (Republican)
- David Alex Levitt, computer scientist/engineer (Democratic)
- Gail K. Lightfoot, retired nurse (Libertarian)
- Al Ramirez, businessman (Republican)
- Nak Shah, environmental health consultant (Democratic)
- Nachum Shifren, educator/actor/businessman (Republican)
- Diane Stewart, businesswoman/finance manager (Democratic)
- Mike Strimling, consumer rights attorney (Democratic)
- Orly Taitz, doctor/attorney/businesswoman (Republican)
- Rick Williams, business attorney (Republican)
U.S. Representative - 33rd District (eight candidiates)
- Bill Bloomfield, small business owner (none)
- Steve Collett, certified public accountant (Libertarian)
- Christopher David, entrepreneur (Republican)
- Bruce Margolin, marijuana legalization attorney (Democratic)
- Zein E. Obagi, California business attorney (Democratic)
- Tim Pape, TV editor (Democratic)
- David William Steinman, consumer rights advocate (Green)
- Henry A. Waxman, U.S. Representative (Democratic)
Member of the State Assembly - 66th District (three candidates)
- updated after 8 p.m.
- , small business owner (Republican)
- , aerospace engineer (Republican)
- , prosecutor/school boardmember (Democratic)
Judge of the Superior Court - Office No. 3 (four candidates)
- Sean D. Coen, gang homicide prosecutor
- Joe Escalante, attorney/legal commentator
- Craig Gold, criminal trial prosecutor
- Laurence N. Kaldor, domestic violence litigator
Judge of the Superior Court - Office No. 10 (two candidates)
- Sanjay T. Kumar, superior court judge
- Kim Smith, criminal prosecutor
Judge of the Superior Court - Office No. 38 (two candidates)
- Lynn Diane Olson, judge of the superior court, office No. 38
- Douglas W. Weitzman, consumer rights attorney
Judge of the Superior Court - Office No. 65 (three candidates)
- Shannon Knight, gang homicide prosecutor
- Matt Schonbrun, criminal prosecutor
- Andrea C. Thompson, child molestation prosecutor
Judge of the Superior Court - Office No. 78 (two candidates)
- Kenneth R. Hughey, retired criminal prosecutor
- James D. Otto, judge of the superior court
Judge of the Superior Court - Office No. 114 (three candidates)
- Ben M. Brees, consumer attorney
- Eric Harmon, gang homicide prosecutor
- Berj Parseghian, environmental attorney
Los Angeles County District Attorney (six candidates)
- John L. Breault III, deputy district attorney
- Bobby Grace, deputy district attorney
- Alan Jackson, gang homicide prosecutor
- Jackie Lacey, chief deputy D.A.
- Danette E. Meyers, senior deputy DA
- Carmen Trutanich, Los Angeles city prosecutor
Los Angeles County Supervisor - Fourth District (one candidate)
- Don Knabe, supervisor, fourth district
State Measures
- Proposition 28 - Limits on legislators' terms in office. Initiative constitutional amendment. Reduces total amount of time a person may serve in the state legislature from 14 years to 12 years. Allows 12 years' service in one house. Applies only to legislators first elected after measure is passed. Fiscal impact: No direct fiscal impact on state or local governments.
- Proposition 29 - Imposes additional tax on cigarettes for cancer research. Initiative statute. Imposes additional $1.00 per pack tax on cigarettes and an equivalent tax increase on other tobacco products. Revenues fund research for cancer and tobacco-related diseases. Fiscal impact: Net increase in cigarette excise tax revenues of about $735 million annually by 2013-14 for certain research and tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Other state and local revenue increases amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually.
County Measures
- Measure H - Los Angeles County hotel occupancy tax continuation measure. Shall the existing unincorporated county hotel room tax be readopted to ratify, continue, and update the existing ordinance at the current rate of 12 percent to fund essential County general fund services, such as parks, libraries, senior services, and law enforcement; to continue exempting hotel stays longer than 30 days, to add exemptions for emergency shelter referrals, and for individuals on official government business pursuant to federal law?
- Measure L - Los Angeles County landfill tax continuation measure. Shall Los Angeles County's existing tax on landfills be readopted to ratify and continue the existing 10 percent tax on landfill operators' gross receipts from waste disposal in landfills in the unincorporated county, to fund essential general fund services, such as parks, libraries, senior services, and law enforcement; and to update the administrative appeal process, and clarify definitions to ensure the tax is properly calculated?
