Los Angeles voters head to the polls Tuesday to fill three key city offices
Elections in the Third and Ninth Council Districts and for city attorney replace longtime officials and mark a historic shift in South Los Angeles representation.
By Julia Novak ·
Los Angeles residents will cast ballots on Tuesday to select new leaders for two council districts and the city attorney's office. The elections replace three officials who are either leaving office or failed to secure re-election in the June primary.
In the Third District, which includes West Valley communities like Tarzana, Woodland Hills, and Canoga Park, voters will choose between businessman Tim Gaspar and Barri Worth Girvan. Gaspar founded an insurance company that he sold in 2021 and runs on a pro-business platform. Worth Girvan, a former government employee for Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, emphasizes her experience in city hall. The campaign featured an ethics complaint from Worth Girvan alleging Gaspar failed to report over $150,000 in expenditures and violated matching-funds rules. Gaspar rejected the claims, calling them lies, and described Worth Girvan as a career politician.
The Ninth District race in South Los Angeles is poised to elect a Latino council member for the first time since 1962. The district, which covers areas such as downtown L.A. and Vermont Square, is now approximately 80% Latino. Candidates Estuardo Mazariegos and Jose Ugarte disagree on policing and homelessness. Mazariegos, supported by labor unions and Sen. Bernie Sanders, wants to reduce LAPD funding to support crisis response programs. Ugarte, who received endorsements from the L.A. County Democratic Party and Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, supports restoring the LAPD to 9,500 officers and enforcing the anti-camping law. Ugarte was fined $20,000 in 2025 by the City Ethics Commission for undisclosed lobbying income. He also benefited from independent expenditures from companies including Airbnb and Uber.
Citywide, voters will decide the city attorney race between California Deputy Attorney General Marissa Roy and L.A. County Deputy District Attorney John McKinney. Roy led McKinney by 17 points in a poll released in late October by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies. McKinney proposed prosecuting chronically homeless individuals for treatment, while Roy focused on enforcing wage laws and protecting renters. The city attorney serves as the legal adviser to the mayor and City Council and oversees a staff of more than 1,000 people and a $200 million budget.
The next city attorney will take office after the Tuesday election, joining new council members in their respective districts.
Voters in the Ninth District will also determine the winner in a contest where independent spending played a major role, with Mazariegos criticizing outside money as an attempt to buy influence at City Hall.
The results will determine the new composition of the Los Angeles City Council and the leadership of the city's legal department.
