Politics & Government
Real-Time Results: Santa Monica, LA County Primary Election 2024
Los Angeles County election results continue to roll in.
![Los Angeles County election results continue to roll in.](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/26494162/20240216/014841/styles/patch_image/public/election-2024-v1___16134822754.jpg)
SANTA MONICA, CA — Results continue to roll in for the presidential primary and scores of local and statewide races in Los Angeles County.
Scroll down for real-time Los Angeles County election results.
The Registrar of Voters and Patch will continue to update the results as votes are tallied, and the page will be refreshed for the latest updates.
Find out what's happening in Santa Monicawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Select "Jump To Contest/Measure" in the dropdown below to choose results for a specific race, or scroll for the full primary election results:
Can't see the results? Click here for all March 5, 2024 Primary Los Angeles County election updates.
Find out what's happening in Santa Monicawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Here's a rundown of all the races impacting Santa Monica:
State Assembly
In Santa Monica's 51st Assembly District, incumbent Democratic Assemblymemeber Rick Chavez Zbur face a challenge from two Republicans: Shiva Bagheri and Stephan Hohil.
District Attorney
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón faces 11 challengers in Tuesday's primary election, including five members of his office: Jonathan Hatami, a child abuse prosecutor; Lloyd "Bobcat" Masson, a cold case prosecutor; John McKinney, supervising district attorney; Maria Ramirez, the head deputy DA; and Eric Siddall, a violent crimes prosecutor.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judges Debra Archuleta and Craig J. Mitchell are also on the ballot, along with David S. Milton, who retired as a Superior Court judge in 2014.
The other candidates are Jeff Chemerinsky, an assistant U.S. attorney; Nathan Hochman, a former U.S. assistant attorney general who was the Republican candidate for state attorney general in the 2022 general election; and criminal defense attorney Dan Kapelovitz.
Proposition 1
In 2004, California voters approved a tax on millionaires to finance mental health services. The tax raises $2-$3 billion annually to fund mental health programs through local government. Proposition 1 would require counties to spend 60 percent of the money on housing and programs for homeless people with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems.
Presidential Primary
The primary will decide which candidate gets California's 169 delegates — the largest haul of any state — to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, to be held in July and August, respectively.
All three top contenders have been stumping in California: President Joe Biden, Republican contender Nikki Haley and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
In California, the political parties determine whether they will have open or closed presidential parties, meaning only the party's registered voters can pick the winning candidates.
The Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Republican Party are all holding closed primaries in California
Furthermore, the state's GOP changed the rules to winner-takes-all, so that any candidate who gets a majority wins all of the delegates. Previously, the delegates were divided up based on the number of congressional districts each Republican won.
The change, pushed by the Donald Trump campaign, raises the stakes in California's primary and favors the frontrunner in the Republican primary, which also happens to be Trump.
The American Independent Party, the Democratic Party, and the Libertarian Party hold a modified-closed primary, which means they allow No Party Preference voters to vote in their primaries.
Statewide Primary Elections
All 52 of California's congressional districts will have primary races March 5 along with one U.S. Senate race. With frontrunners Trump and Biden expected to sail to victory in California's presidential primary, the real suspense centers on the Golden State's Senate race.
For the Senate race, California has an open primary, which means only the top two vote-getters in the primary election, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election.
All election season, polls have shown Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) in the lead with former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey (R), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine ), and Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) vying for second place to make it into the general election. However, last week Garvey pulled into first place after consolidating conservative support and with a little help from an ad campaign by Schiff aimed at raising Garvey's profile over Porter, who is seen as the bigger threat in the general election.
According to a new polls from UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, Garvey pulled into first place with the support of 27 percent of likely voters compared to Schiff's 25 percent and Porter's 19 percent.
Just weeks earlier a California Elections and Policy Poll released in February had Porter and Garvey deadlocked in the race for second place.
Schiff went into February far in the lead with 25 percent of likely voters while Porter and Garvey, each garnered support from 15 percent of likely voters. Lee was polling in fourth place at 7 percent of the vote, according to the poll.
It's been decades since a Republican won statewide office in California, and that may be why the Schiff campaign is expending considerable capital to raise Garvey's profile among Republican voters through a series of expensive Fox News ads, touting him as too conservative for California.
Garvey, with just over $300,000 in his war chest, can't afford such ads.
Porter blasted the tactic as a “brazenly cynical” bid for Schiff to handpick his opponent in the general election, counting on deep blue California to reject any statewide Republican candidate in the general election.
According to Politico, Porter and Schiff booked a staggering $25 million in airtime. Schiff has nabbed the bulk of the Democratic establishment endorsements such as Nancy Pelosi, United Farm Workers and the Los Angeles Times editorial board. Porter, a darling of progressives, garnered endorsements from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, CA Attorney General Rob Bonta, and consumer advocacy groups.
The senate candidates are:
- Sharleta Bassett (R)
- James P. Bradley (R)
- Eric Early (R)
- Steve Garvey (R)
- Denice Gary-Pandol (R)
- Laura Garza (No party preference)
- Sepi Gilani (D)
- Don Grundmann (No party preference)
- Forrest Jones (American Independent Party of California)
- Harmesh Kumar (D)
- Barbara Lee (D)
- Sarah Sun Liew (R)
- Gail Lightfoot (L)
- James Macauley (R)
- Christina Pascucci (D)
- David Peterson (D)
- Douglas Howard Pierce (D)
- Katie Porter (D)
- Perry Pound (D)
- Raji Rab (D)
- Jonathan Reiss (R)
- John Rose (D)
- Mark Ruzon (No party preference)
- Adam Schiff (D)
- Stefan Simchowitz (R)
- Major Singh (No party preference)
- Martin Veprauskas (R)
- Eduardo Berdugo (Independent) (Write-in)
- Danny Fabricant (R) (Write-in)
- Roxanne Lawler (R) (Write-in)
Patch Staffer Michael Wittner and City News Service contributed to this report.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.