Los Angeles County Voter Guide: What To Know On Election Day 2024

LOS ANGELES, CA — The polls will close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Angelenos have one more day to make their will known on everything from who is running the country to same-sex marriage in California to the hotly-contested Los Angeles County district attorney's race.

While the hottest race on the ballot is the presidential election, pitting Vice President Kamala Harris against former president Donald J. Trump, there are plenty of other races to watch in Los Angeles, including races for Congress, City Council and school board, as well as a host of local and statewide ballot measures.

County Ballot Measures

Los Angeles County voters will decide on measures A and G.

Measure A seeks to raise an estimated $1.1 billion annually for homelessness services and affordable housing programs through a sales-tax increase.

If approved, Measure A would repeal the county's existing quarter-cent sales tax for homelessness services — Measure H, passed by voters in 2017 — and replace it with a new half-cent sales tax.

County officials say they want to lock in a larger, dedicated revenue stream to address the region's housing and homelessness crisis: Measure H is set to expire in 2027, while Measure A would never expire.

Measure G would significantly overhaul LA County's government charter, which has remained largely unchanged since 1912 — despite the county's population increasing twentyfold.

The biggest change would be an expansion of the Board of Supervisors from five to nine members, which would reduce the size of each supervisor's consistency. Currently, each board member represents around 2 million people in districts that cover huge swaths of the county.

Measure G would also make the county chief executive officer an elected position. The CEO, who oversees the county's day-to-day operations, is currently appointed by the board.

It would also create an independent ethics commission and two new positions: county legislative analyst and director of budget and management.

District Attorney

Perhaps the most closely watched race in Los Angeles County is the battle for district attorney. It’s become the most scrutinized district attorney’s race in the country, with incumbent George Gascón a lightning rod for progressive reforms that are hailed by his supporters and characterized as soft on crime by his critics.

He faces former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman, who has pledged to emphasize justice for victims and to reverse Gascón’s policies eschewing many sentencing enhancements, the death penalty, and charging juveniles as adults.

Voters are facing a choice between two distinct approaches to criminal justice.

The office is nonpartisan. However, Gascón is running as a Democrat, and Hochman as an Independent two years after launching a campaign for state attorney general as a Republican.

Both men emerged from the crowded field of 11 candidates in the March primary, with Gascón garnering about 25 percent of the vote to Hochman’s 16 percent.

However, Hochman has surged ahead of Gascón with likely voters according to one recent survey by researchers at USC, CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona. The poll has Hochman with a commanding 24-point lead over Gascón. About 44 percent of likely voters said they support Hochman, while only 20 percent said they support Gascón.

SEE ALSO: Meet Nathan Hochman, Candidate For LA County District Attorney

State Measures

Of course, it wouldn’t be a major election in California if there were not a slew of proposed propositions on the ballot.

There are 10 statewide propositions on the ballot, including two $10 billion bond measures for school construction and to address climate change. There are also two amendments to the state constitution, one which would repeal the unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage and another that would make it easier for bond measures to pass by lowering the voter threshold from the current supermajority needed to approve bond measures.

However, the most hot-button measure on the ballot is Proposition 36, which seeks to reverse some of the criminal justice reforms passed when voters approved Proposition 47 a decade ago. If Prop 36 passes, it could significantly increase prison time for some drug and theft offenses that are currently misdemeanors.

Click here for Patch’s in-depth reporting on all 10 propositions.

U.S. House of Representatives

There are 17 Congressional Districts in Los Angeles County, and all but one of them are currently represented by Democrats in the county where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1.

SEE ALL: These 6 CA Races Will Determine Future Of The House

It's that one Republican District among the most closely watched congressional races in the naion because it could help determine who wins control of the U.S House. The 27th Congressional District serves the High Desert area, and incumbent Mike Garcia is facing Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff looking to unseat a Republican in a district that split the ticket in 2020.

Garcia first took office in 2020 to replace Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned amid a sex scandal. His margin of victory was less than 350 votes. He fared better in the midterms in 2022 with 53 percent of the vote or a margin of nearly 13,000 votes. However, with former president Donald Trump, who remains deeply unpopular in California, at the topic of the ticket, Garcia is expected to have more of a fight on his hands.

Whitesides has blasted Garcia for supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade and for voting not to certify the results of the 2020 election, calling him a Maga extremist. Garcia's camp, conversely has characterist Whiteside as an out-of-step liberal megadonor.

Both national parties are pouring millions of dollars into the district with campaign adds to get out the vote.

U.S. Senate

A consequential contest to watch will be the race for the U.S. Senate seat long-held by the late Dianne Feinstein. In fact, voters will cast their ballot twice in this race, Nov. 5. They’ll choose a candidate to finish out Feinstein’s current term and again for the next term, which will begin in 2025.

Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey are both vying for the seat. Democrat Schiff, a progressive favorite in the Golden State, has represented the 30th Congressional District since 2000.

Garvey, formerly an All-Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, advanced in March to the November ballot as a first-time political candidate. Republicans have failed to advance a candidate in two of the last three U.S. Senate races, making Garvey’s defeat of Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, a rare feat for the GOP in blue California.

According to the latest poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, Schiff holds a 28 point-lead (63 percent to 35 percent) over Garvey. Schiff gained widespread name recognition for his role in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Read more about that race here.

How To Vote

Los Angeles County voters have three options to vote:

• Mail-in ballot: Voters can mail in the ballots they receive in the mail by signing them, sealing them and placing them in either a mailbox or an approved drop box. Official drop box locations can be found here.
• Early voting: Residents can cast in-person ballots early at the county registrar's Norwalk office beginning 29 days before the election.
• Traditional in-person voting: Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. Click here to find your polling location.

Registering To Vote

Not sure if you’re registered to vote, or need to change your address? You can find out here and make any changes you may need, as well. Californians needed to register to vote by Oct. 21 to vote in the Nov. 5 election. You can also register in person on Election Day for a conditional ballot.

Election Day

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Use the links above to find your polling place, and remember that if you are already in line to vote when the polls close, you can still vote — so don't leave! Nov. 5 is also the last day to get your ballot in the mail if you are going that route to cast your votes.