Hollywood Voter Guide: An Overview Of Local And State Races, Ballot Questions

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 marks the last day Californians can vote in the general election – either through their mail-in ballots or at an in-person polling location.

The election will not only decide the hotly contested presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald J. Trump, but also plenty of other races in Hollywood, including races for district attorney, Congress and school board, as well as a host of local and statewide ballot measures.

School Board

Hollywood is split up between three Los Angeles Unified School District board seats. One of those seats, District 5, is up for grabs: Incumbent Jackie Goldberg is retiring.

Karla Griego, an LAUSD teacher, is facing off against Graciela “Grace” Ortiz, who is also a teacher in the district, as well a Huntington Park city councilmember.

They were the two highest vote getters in the March primary, besting two other candidates. Griego earned 36.72 percent of the vote and Ortiz got 28.76 percent.

Read more about the candidates.

City Ballot Measures

Voters in the city of Los Angeles will consider five city charter amendments dealing with ethics reform, redistricting, police and fire pensions, government transparency and administrative authority.

The amendments were proposed in the aftermath of the scandal that erupted in 2021 when a secret recording emerged between then-City Council members Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo and current Councilman Kevin de Leon discussing power dynamics in the city in crude and racist terms. And several city leaders have been convicted of or charged with corruption over the last few years, prompting efforts aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in city government.

Amendment DD would create an independent commission to make decisions about City Council district boundaries following each U.S. Census. Currently, the mayor and council make decisions about those districts — if the charter amendment passes, elected officials would no longer be involved in the process.

Amendment HH would require city commission appointees to file financial disclosures in order to be appointed to their roles, clarify the controller's audit authority over city contractors, expand the city attorney's subpoena power and more.

Amendment II would include gender identity in city-employment nondiscrimination rules, allow electronic signatures on certain city documents, allow the city to lease sites in public parks to the Los Angeles Unified School District for park-related purposes and more.

Amendment ER would establish a minimum annual budget for the City Ethics Commission, give the commission more authority over spending and personnel matters, allow the commission to hire its own lawyer under certain circumstances, impose additional qualifications on commission members and the executive director, prohibit the appointment of elected officials' relatives or campaign donors to the commission and increase the maximum penalties the commission may impose.

Amendment FF would implement changes to rules around public retirement fund membership for police, airport, harbor and Recreation and Parks employees.

A detailed overview of the proposed charter amendments is available on the city's website.

LAUSD Ballot Measures

Voters within the Los Angeles Unified School District boundaries will be asked to vote on Amendment LL, which would amend the city charter to establish a redistricting commission for the school board.

Currently, district boundaries are determined by the City Council and mayor. The amendment would give that power to a redistricting commission that would be selected without involvement from elected officials.

A detailed overview of the proposed amendment is available on the city's website.

LAUSD voters will also consider Measure US, the $9 billion bond measure for school facility improvements. The measure will require support from more than 55 percent of voters to pass.

If approved, the measure would increase property tax rates by about 2.5 cents per $100 of valuation to generate $456,123,000 annually until 2059.

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 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.

As Gascón faces the possibility of election defeat, he's spent the last month publicizing his work on major cases, most notably an effort to secure resentencing for the Menendez brothers.

SEE ALSO: Los Angeles District Attorney's Race: Meet The Candidates

State Assembly

Hollywood is split up between three state Assembly districts: 51, 52 and 54.

District 51: Following a three-way primary race, incumbent Democrat Rick Chavez Zbur and Republican challenger Stephan Hohil will face off in the general election. Zbur earned 78.3 percent of the vote in the primary, compared to Hohil’s 10.9 percent.

District 52: Incumbent Democratic Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo is not seeking reelection. Following an eight-way primary race, two Democrats will face off in the general election: Jessica Caloza, who earned 29.8 percent of the primary vote, and Francisco Carrillo Jr., who earned 26.2 percent of the vote.

District 54: Incumbent Democratic Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is not seeking reelection. Following a three-way primary race, two Democrats will face off in the general election: Mark Gonzalez, who earned 45.2 percent of the primary vote, and John Yi, who earned 34.5 percent of the vote.

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

Most of Hollywood is within the 30th Congressional District. Incumbent Rep. Adam Schiff is not seeking reelection to his longtime U.S. House seat in order to run for Senate.

Running to replace him are Democrat Laura Friedman and Republican Alex Balekian.

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

• Mail-in ballot: Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. Those unsure if their ballot will make it in the mail in time can also bring their ballots to any polling location in the state or a ballot drop box in LA County by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Official drop box locations can be found here.
• 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.

Buses, trains and bikes will be free to ride across Los Angeles County on Election Day as part of an effort to ensure voters can get to the polls.

Registering To Vote

Not sure if you’re registered to vote, or need to change your address? You can find out here. The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election was Oct. 21, but residents 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!