Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and nonprofit director Tina Simone McKinnor jumped out in front after the polls closed Tuesday evening, April 5, in the special election to fill the vacancy in the 62nd Assembly District, which includes portions of the South Bay.
Four Democrats were seeking to take over the seat of Assemblywoman Autumn R. Burke — at least for several months — who resigned earlier this year, citing family priorities.
Burke, D-Inglewood, resigned from the Assembly suddenly on Feb. 1, leaving the 62nd District unrepresented and prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to proclaim a special election ahead of the statewide primaries in June.
The four candidates seeking to replace Burke would serve out the final eight months of her term. The 62nd District that the winning candidate will represent will essentially become the 61st next term because of redistricting.
If no candidate receives a majority of the vote during the April 5 special election, the top-two finishers will head to a run off on June 7, the same day as the statewide primary — which includes the race for the new 61st.
In early returns Tuesday night, Pullen-Miles garnered 8,083 votes, or 37.21%. McKinnor snagged 7,686 votes, or 35.38%.
In third position was Hawthorne City Councilwoman Angie Reyes English, who recorded 3,056 votes, or 14.07%. Trailing was Nico Ruderman, a former member of the Venice Beach Neighborhood Council, with 2,900 votes, or 13.35%.
After Election Day there were still many outstanding ballots to be processed and counted, according to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan. The first post-election ballot count update is scheduled for Friday, April 8.
The four candidates are the same hopefuls, not counting one Republican, who will also compete for the 61st Assembly District.
The current 62nd district consists of Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, and Gardena, as well as Westchester, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, and Del Rey, and the unincorporated communities of Del Aire, West Athens, Lennox, Westmont and Marina del Rey.
Reyes English was first elected to the Hawthorne City Council in 2009 after a four-year stint as city clerk. She served on the council until 2018, and later rejoined in 2020.
Reyes English also previously served as a senior district representative in the 51st Assembly District — where she was later elected to serve as a Democratic Party delegate.
She’s been endorsed by the Hawthorne Police Officers Association and several elected leaders including LA City Councilmember Curren Price and retired Assemblyman Richard Alatorre, according to her website.
Reyes English had $14,083 in cash on had during the most-recent campaign finance filing period, which ended March 19. She spent about $14,967 from Jan. 1 to March 19 — the lowest amount among the four candidates — according to campaign finance records.
Pullen-Miles, Burke’s district director, announced his candidacy for the seat Feb. 1 and received Burke’s endorsement that day.
“As your next Assembly member, I will do for our district what I have already done as mayor and council member,” Pullen-Miles said at the time, “create good paying jobs, help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, combat our homelessness crisis and keep our communities safe and thriving.”
Pullen-Miles, according to a biography supplied by his campaign, moved from Oklahoma to California when he was 19 years old, with $25 in his pocket, in search of better opportunities. He did not have a job and did not have a permanent place to live when he arrived, spending many months sleeping on couches while staying with friends.
Pullen-Miles was elected mayor of Lawndale in 2014, the first Black person to hold the position. He was previously elected to three terms on the City Council.
Pullen-Miles also worked on the staffs of then-Assemblyman Carl Washington, and then-Sens. Ted Lieu and Jenny Oropeza.
The Lawndale mayor had $87,282 in cash on hand as of March 19 — and had spent $164,811 on his campaign since Jan. 1.
McKinnor is the director of civic engagement for LA Voice. LA Voice describes itself as “a multi-racial, multi-faith organization with a mission to transform Los Angeles into a county that reflects the human dignity of all communities, with racial and economic equity and abundant life for all.”
McKinnor previously served as operations director for the California Democratic Party, district director for then-Assemblymanand now state Sen. Steven Bradford, political treasurer for the Kaufman Legal Group and auditor at the L.A. County Office of Education.
The Democratic activist spent $159,724 from Jan. 1 to March 19, according to campaign finance records, and ended that period with $22,483 on hand.
She has been endorsed by L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, the Legislative Black Caucus and Bradford, among others.
Ruderman, a small business owner, has relatively little political experience compared to his opponents. But his campaign has focused on addressing homelessness in local communities — and removing homeless encampments in highly-trafficked areas.
Ruderman has been endorsed by L.A. City Councilman and mayoral candidate Joe Buscaino, according to Ruderman’s Instagram page.
Ruderman spent $17,867 during this last reporting period, and had $18,032 in cash on hand as of March 19.
Information: lavote.gov.
City News Service and staff writer Kristy Hutchings contributed to this report.