Mary Zendejas garnered 608 votes during the Long Beach special election Tuesday night, unofficially earning her seat as 1st District Councilmember. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder will officially announce the total vote tallies on Nov. 15.
With Zendejas in the lead, she will take her seat on the council on Dec. 17 and will carry out the term until Dec. 20, 2022, according to the Long Beach Clerk’s office.
Following in second was Mariela Salgado with 491 votes and in third was Misi Tagaloa with 367 votes. As of press time, the total number of votes is 1,944, however, that number may change if there are still vote-by-mail and provisional ballots left to count.
According to the City clerk’s office, there are 20,901 Active voters in Council District 1 as of press time.
Zendejas’ campaign hosted an election-watch party at Portugal Bend the night of the election. Throughout her campaign, she collected donations from notable politicians, unions and public-safety organizations.
Zendejas’ election platform focused on public safety, infrastructure repair, public health and housing.
The 1st district seat was left empty after former Councilmember Lena Gonzalez was elected as state senator on June 12.
In her absence, Mayor Robert Garcia appointed his longtime staff member and senior advisor, Daniel Brezenoff, as administrator for the 1st District in June.
It’s unfortunate that in our system, 90% of the time the candidate with the most money wins (see Washington Post link below). And the almighty dollars were certainly flowing into the status quo candidate’s coffers. I think per the latest tabulation each of Mary Zendejas’s votes cost her $200, in comparison with something like $40 for Elliot Gonzalez.
Democracy ought to be a level playing field but it isn’t. At some point it almost makes sense to simply have a bidding process. Whomever bids the highest gets the seat, simple. This saves a lot of grief and a lot of time. No more debates, no more reams of glossy candidate advertisement, no more bickering on social media, no more fighting for endorsements, and no more polling booths or mail in ballots. In fact, if I remember correctly, a special election costs close to a million dollars. We can use that money to buy a second big screen TV for the Long Beach City Hall.
https://wapo.st/33sTxmS