West Hollywood’s March 5 election attracted 6,170 voters, 21.8% of the total number of residents who are registered to vote.
The final ballot total was announced by the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, who oversees the county voting system. Of those 6,170 ballots, 2,354 were cast at polling places and 3,816 were vote-by-mail ballots.
City Clerk Yvonne Quarker said that the voter turnout typically is between 18% and 20%, with the turnout larger when there are measures on the ballot. For example, there was a 26.8% turnout in the March 7, 2017, election, which included Measure H, the homeless initiative, on the ballot along with two City Council seats.
This year’s election featured two measures: Measure B, which affirmed the City Council’s approval of construction of the Arts Club on Sunset Boulevard, and Measure Y, which authorized a 7.5% tax on sales of recreational cannabis. There were 11 candidates running for three seats on the City Council, with the three incumbents winning. The percentage of voters who supported each candidate is as follows
Lindsey Horvath, 64%
Lauren Meister, 58.6%
John D’Amico, 39.6%
Sepi Shyne, 37.3%
James Duke Mason, 21.6%
Marquita Thomas, 17.5%
Brendan Hood, .08%
Tom Demille, .05%
Shawn Davis Mooney, .05%
Jack Cline, .04%
Eric Jon Schmidt, .03%
Going forward, the city’s elections will be moved to the statewide general election date, with the next one scheduled for Nov. 3, 2020. That likely will attract a larger percentage of voters because the office of president of the United States will be on the ballot. The Nov. 6, 2018, mid-term election attracted 67.46% of West Hollywood’s 27,653 registered voters.
