Two Democrats appear headed for the November runoff election in California’s 24th State Senate District race. The Republican sitting in third place, based on unofficial primary election results, conceded this week that he would not be advancing to the general election.
West Hollywood City Councilmember John Erickson led the crowded field of candidates with 20.5% of the vote, followed by media consultant Brian Goldsmith with 18.28% and G. Rick Marshall with 17.53%, based on the Tuesday afternoon, June 16, tally update by the Los Angeles County registrar’s office.
Even before Marshall’s concession this week, the two Democrats ahead of him in the vote count had anticipated they would move on to the November election.
“In the general (election), voters again will be choosing between someone, myself, who has a real record of delivering for the region of housing, affordability and community safety for all, and someone who does not,” Erickson, who was first elected to the West Hollywood City Council in 2020, said in a text.
“I look forward to healthy debates between Brian Goldsmith and myself on the issues,” he said.
Goldsmith, a Beverly Hills resident, congratulated Erickson for advancing to the runoff on social media last week, adding that he expected the two to have “a robust exchange of ideas in the coming months.”
“I am excited to continue traveling across the 24th District to listen to every community and every resident and small business I can,” Goldsmith also said in his video.
Marshall, a chief financial officer from Torrance, was ready to call the race this week after nearly two weeks of ballot counting.
“I’m going to have to concede,” Marshall said.
“I don’t believe there’s enough ballots (left) to make up the difference,” said Marshall, who trailed Goldsmith by just over 2,250 votes.
According to the registrar’s office, the only ballots remaining to be counted are those needing to be cured, meaning a voter did not sign their ballot or provided a signature that didn’t match the one on file. Voters have until June 24 to correct these issues.
The next ballot count update will be late Thursday afternoon. Local election offices have until July 2 to certify the results of the primary election.
Marshall placed in the top two of candidates early on in the ballot-counting process, but his lead slipped as more late-arriving mail-in ballots — which tend to be cast by Democrats — were tabulated in the days following the June 2 primary election.
Ten people in all appeared on the primary election ballot for the SD-24 race — the most of any legislative race in the state. It was an open seat since Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, is termed out. So instead of seeking reelection, Allen became a candidate for state insurance commissioner and appears to have advanced to the November runoff in that race.
The other candidates in the SD-24 race included Republican real estate agent Kristina Irwin, who was in fourth place.
The six remaining Democratic candidates, in order of placement as of Tuesday, were Dr. Sion Roy, a Santa Monica College Board trustee; Mike Newhouse, the owner of a small law firm; Eric Alegria, vice president of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school board; Amaris Dordar, an attorney; Ellen Evans, a neighborhood association co-founder; and Zennon Ulyate-Crow, executive director of a nonprofit.
The 24th State Senate District is a largely coastal one that stretches from the Santa Monica Mountains — and includes Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Malibu — to L.A.’s Westside and Hollywood area, and on down to the South Bay, taking in Redondo Beach, Torrance and Rancho Palos Verdes.
In addition to it being the most heavily contested legislative race in California this primary, SD-24 was also an expensive race, with more than $8 million poured into the contest from outside, independent expenditure groups seeking to influence the outcome of the election in just the several weeks leading up to the primary election.
Since about mid-April, three groups spent over $2.8 million collectively on ads, research and other expenses in an effort to defeat Erickson, for example, according to state campaign finance records.
The groups included Grow California, which is associated with billionaires in the tech and crypto sector, and Keep California Golden, a coalition representing Realtors, correctional peace officers and the building industry. A third group, called Progressive Leadership for Us, which supports Goldsmith, also ran ads opposing Erickson.
The West Hollywood councilmember — who was on track to be the top vote-getter in this race, based on the unofficial election results — referenced the outside spending in his text.
“The outcome of this election is a clear example of how dark money cannot buy elections,” Erickson wrote.
As he looks ahead toward the general election, Erickson, in a follow-up interview, said his campaign will “continue to put boots on the ground and talk about the issues” that matter to voters, such as housing, home insurance and rebuilding.
Goldsmith, meanwhile, indicated in a statement last week that he’s running to make life easier and more affordable for families and small businesses; confront crime and homelessness; address climate change, artificial intelligence and insurance; and fix today’s divisive politics.
“This is the community where I grew up, where Claire and I are raising our kids — so this is personal, not just political,” Goldsmith stated.
This year’s general election will take place on Nov. 3.