Ugarte holds 156-vote lead in Los Angeles council race

Jose Ugarte holds a 156-vote lead over Estuardo Mazariegos in the Los Angeles City Council race for the 9th District, according to the latest tally released Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder recorded 19,200 votes for Ugarte and 19,044 for Mazariegos. Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for the registrar-recorder's office, confirmed Tuesday was the final day for counting mail-in ballots. He said the office could not estimate the total number of remaining votes.

The next vote tally will not be released until Friday because of the Veterans Day holiday on Wednesday. District 9 includes South Los Angeles neighborhoods, the Convention Center, and the University of Southern California.

The race determines the successor to Curren Price, who is leaving office due to term limits. Price currently faces charges of embezzlement and conflict of interest, though he has denied wrongdoing. Price endorsed Ugarte, who campaigns on protecting residents from federal immigration enforcement. Mazariegos, backed by the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, focuses on affordable housing and shifting spending away from policing.

Mazariegos' campaign accused the Ugarte campaign of mishandling ballots this week. The campaign shared images of sealed and unsealed ballots, alleging they were collected during an Ugarte canvassing operation. One photo showed a USC student volunteering for Ugarte delivering a stack of ballots to a drop box.

Mazariegos said in a statement that taking people's ballots and not following legal voter assistance guidelines was disgusting. The registrar-recorder's office forwarded the complaint to the district attorney's office for review. Sanchez noted that the photo did not raise immediate alarms because California law allows voters to authorize another person to return their completed ballots.

Ugarte responded in a statement that the allegations were categorically false and defamatory. The district attorney's office confirmed it is looking into the matter. This 9th District seat is one of two council races decided in the November 3 election.

Barri Worth Girvan declared victory in the 3rd District seat Friday night. She widened her lead over rival Tim Gaspar, securing 51 percent of the vote to Gaspar's 48 percent. Worth Girvan will replace Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who is also leaving due to term limits. The 3rd District includes Woodland Hills, Reseda, and Canoga Park.