The 2024 statewide primary is just a few weeks away — but federal and state races aren’t the only elections on the ballot.
Plenty of cities along Los Angeles County’s coast have local elections on March 5. Here’s a roundup of them.
Avalon
Avalon Mayor Anni Marshall will will try to win reelection agaiinst challenger Daniel Felts.
The mayor represents the entire city of about 3,700 for two years.
In her candidate’s statement on lavote.gov, Marshall said she has been mayor of Avalon for 10 years and touted her experience on various projects, including workforce housing, transient rental licenses and Cabrillo Mole renovation.
The Cabrillo Mole Ferry Revitalization Project is currently in the works to repair the city’s wharf to “maintain its safety and reliability and increase its life expectancy,” to improve the “overall tourist experience,” according to the city of Avalon website.
A campaign website or statement for challenger Daniel Felts could not be found.
Incumbent councilmembers Lisa Lavelle and Yesenia De la Rose are running unopposed for a full four-year term.Treasurer Oley Olsen is running unopposed as city treasurer.
Lakewood
Two four-year seats on the Lakewood City Council will be up for grabs on March 5.
Current Mayor Ariel Pe and Jeff Wood will face off in the District 3 race, while business owner David Arellano and reserve deputy Vicki Stuckey compete to fill the District 4 seat.
Residents began voting for councilmembers in five different districts, instead of a citywide vote, in 2022.
District 3 and 4 are in the central part of Lakewood. District 3 is bordered by Bellflower on the north and Long Beach on the south. District 4 is bordered by Cerritos on the north, a small area of Bellflower on the northwest, Long Beach on the south and Hawaiian Gardens on the southeast.
David Arellano grew up in Lakewood and is a small business owner of Preferred Auto Design in Bellflower.
Arellano coached girls track at Mayfair and Lakewood High School while volunteering as a soccer coach in youth sports. He has also been the chair of the board of directors for the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce.
His priorities, according to his campaign website, include community safety, economic development, infrastructure, and spearheading community engagement in city events and programs.
Pe has lived in Lakewood for five decades and is a small business owner.
His priorities, if reelected, include ensure a financial foundation for the city, strengthening public safety, and supporting community events and mentoring programs, according to his campaign website.
Pe, according to his website, has been involved in numerous community organizations, including the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club of Lakewood. He currently serves as president of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, vice president of Los Angeles County League of California Cities, and Lakewood Regional Medical Center.
Vicki Stuckey was appointed in 2022 to complete the term of retired councilmember Diane DuBois.
She has served on various Lakewood city commissions, according to her website, including the Public Safety Commission and the Planning and Environment Commission.
Stuckey began her law enforcement career in 1985 with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and retired in 2019 as the captain of the Altadena Sheriff’s station, according to her campaign website.
Stuckey has also been involved in other organizations, including the Rotary Club of Lakewood, Friends of Lakewood Library, the Lakewood Regional Medical Center and the African American Quilter of Los Angeles.
Wood, meanwhile, is seeking his fourth term on the Lakewood City Council.
Wood’s priorities, according to his website, are public safety, maintaining parks and recreation programs, supporting local businesses, and advancing capital improvement projects.
Wood has also served on regional boards, including as president of California Contract Cities Association and the Southern California Association of Government’s Regional Council. He serves on local committees as well, including the city’s Audit and Measure L committees and the Schools Committee.
Wood, according to the city’s website, has career experience in “risk management, business continuity, occupational safety and health, and emergency management.”
Paramount
In Paramount, a city with about 52,500 people, current Mayor Isabel Aguayo and Councilmembers Brenda Olmos and Vilma Cuellar Stallings are running for reelection.
Vying to replace them in the citywide election are teacher Yesenia Maria Cuarenta, small business owner Jose De Leon and university administrative coordinator Carmen Patricia Gomez.
A lifelong resident of Paramount, Isabel Aguayo is seeking her second term on the City Council. Safety, education and recreational opportunities are important issues in the city, according to her candidate statement. A goal of Aguayo’s, she said, is creating more recreational programs in the city, including adult sports and adaptive recreation.
Cuarenta said she is running for Paramount City Council to focus on quality of life issues and for an accountable and open city government.
Cuarenta is currently a school board member for the Paramount Unified School District. She was elected to the school board in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
Cuarenta, a California School Board Association delegate, helped form the school district’s office of Equity, Diversity and Support Systems, according to the district’s website.
Cuarenta is a member of the Paramount Kiwanis Club and a member of the Paramount Historical Society, Paramount’s Parent Teacher Association and The Paramount Women’s Club, according to the school district’s website.
De Leon, meanwhile, said in his candidate statement that he would advocate for cleaner air and for more affordable housing.
Other issues include increasing safety in parks by adding more light, demanding more transparency from the city and stopping wasteful spending.
Olmos, a health care professional, backed the creation of Paramount’s Back to School program, which supplied students with school supplies, and other programs while she was on City Council.
Other programs that are moving the city forward, according to Olmos’ candidate statement, are student scholarships, homelessness intervention programs, the Chats & Snacks program — which promotes conversations with the mayor — and partnerships with the school district and business community.
Cuellar Stallings said the city has had notable accomplishments recently, according to her candidate statement, including the installation of new playground equipment at all major parks in the city and new businesses on Paramount Boulevard.
Other accomplishments include the expansions of the Little Library and Back to School Supplies programs, citywide repaving that’s set to begin soon, expansion of seniors’ programs, and the Los Angeles Kings Iceland skating rink.
Carmen Patrica Gomez could not be reached for comment and no campaign website was available.
Gardena
Incumbents Mark Henderson and Paulette Francis will compete against teacher Aimee Midori Yamada, and first responder and veteran Anthony Dixon to fill two City Council seats in Gardena, which has about 59,700 residents.
Dixon was working for the Los Angeles County Fire Department as part of the Fire Department Lifeguard Division when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks happened.
So at 33, he joined the military and spent 11 years in the Army National Guard, where he served two tours in Iraq and Kuwait, according to his campaign website.
Dixon began work for McCormick Ambulance at 18 years old and became an EMT and was eventually promoted to supervisor before joining the LA County Fire Department, where he fought fires to working at the Lifeguard Division.
Dixon is a California State Fire Fighters Association board member, senior vice commander at VFW Post No. 3261 in Gardena, a member of the Gardena Kiwanis Club and the liaison advisor for the Gardena High School Key Club.
Incumbent Francis has lived in Gardena for nearly five decades and was first elected in March 2020, according to the city’s website.
Francis, who has worked in aerospace, real estate and government service professions; and is the president of California Educational Solution, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women and children, according to the city’s website.
Francis has also been involved in various city organizations, including serving as chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Committee of Gardena, president of the Gardena Valley Democratic Club, and commissioner on the Gardena Recreation and Parks Commission and the Planning & Environmental Quality Commission.
Incumbent Henderson, according to his website, was first elected in March 2015, is an advocate for responsive government, a champion for technological advances and wants to help promote local businesses.
Henderson is a U.S. Navy veteran and currently works at the Los Angeles Community College District as the district manager of College Technology Services.
Henderson has lived in Gardena for 35 years and has been active as a volunteer youth sports coach, Gardena Pop Warner volunteer city commissioner, and board president of PVJOBs Inc. and Brothers Inc. Youth Leadership.
Henderson was a delegate to the Southern California Association of Governments, West Basin Water Association alternate, Centennial Youth Services delegate, Gardena Rent Mediation board member, chair of the Planning and Environmental Quality Commission, and chair of the Racial Equity Housing Committee, according to his campaign website.
In a campaign statement, Aimee Midori Yamada said she is focused on the city’s youth.
Yamada served Gardena’s community for decades as a PTA member and PTSA board secretary at her children’s and grandchildren’s schools, according to the statement. Yamada founded the Isami taiko group at Gardena Buddhist Church in 1984.
She performed taiko at Gardena’s 50th and 60th anniversaries, as well as during Ichikawa sister city anniversaries, among other events.
Compton
Appointed Mayor Deidre Duhart will be challenged for the District 1 City Council seat by small business owner Jasper Jackson and Fidel Marquez.
District 1 is in the northwest portion of the city.
Duhart began serving on the city’s personnel board in 2019, assisted multiple city councilmembers as a liaison, and has provided administrative support to city management, according to the city’s website.
Duhart also volunteered for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and assisted in the coordination of several local and citywide events.
Jackson launched his own paralegal firm in 1999 and ran the small business for 24 years, according to his campaign website.
Jackson has been involved in a number of organizations, including as block club president for the Tajauta Block Club and citywide Block Club commissioner; youth sports coach in basketball and football; 100 Black Men; Masonry Golden State Grand Lodge; and as an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party State Central Committee, according to his website.
A candidate’s website or campaign statement was not available for Fidel Marquez.
In the District 4 race, appointed Councilmember Lillie Darden will seek another term and will be challenged by businessperson Alysia Rivers, business owner Terrance Cumby and corporate executive Joel Estrada.
District 4 covers the southeastern quadrant of the city.
Cumby, a business owner and community organizer, said in his candidate statement that he wants to promote economic growth in the city while keeping it safer.
Infrastructure and prioritizing affordable housing are priorities for Cumby, he said, as is investing in the city to attract new business and economic opportunities, Cumby said in his statement.
Darden served as the general manager of the Compton Municipal Water Department, which had the responsibility of a $13 million budget, according to the city’s website.
Darden has been a planning commissioner and Federal Grants Advisory Board commissioner, and is the chairperson for the city’s Measure P Committee.
Darden has been a lifetime member of the VFW Post No. 5394 Ladies Auxiliary, served on the Women’s Congressional Council for the 37th Congressional District, been on the board of directors for the Compton Municipal Federal Credit Union Treasurer of Concerned Citizens of Compton and more.
Estrada, meanwhile, has served as a school board president and city commissioner, according to his campaign website.
Estrada spent 15 years as a youth pastor of Hosanna Apostolic Church in Compton and is an interim English service pastor at Mt. Zion Apostolic Church in South Gate.
Estrada is a business person who founded several companies, including a Latino and Urban marketing agency, before serving as the chief operating officer of a Capital Firm Group.
He has also served on variousboards of directors, including for Community Lawyers Inc. in Compton.
Rivers, a business person and community advocate, worked as an aide for the Compton Engineering Division beginning in 2009, according to her campaign website.
Rivers has been involved in community activism for a number of years, focusing on youth and community development while volunteering on several campaigns.
Rivers became the political liaison for the Greater Zion Church Family, according to her website. She is a TEDx speaker and hosts her own podcast, “The Committee,” which focuses on Compton politics; and is the membership and grants manager for the L.A. County Business Federation.
Appointed City Clerk Vernell McDaniel will face Compton Unified Board member Satra Zurita and business person Lynn Boone for that position, which will expire on Dec. 21, 2026.
Vernell McDaniel has had a four-decade career in public service, including as chief deputy city clerk.
McDaniel has been active in schools, block clubs, the VFW, voter registration outreach, youth programs and various community events, according to he campaign website.
Boone wants to ensure election integrity, computerize the city clerk’s office, and run a transparent office, according to her campaign statement.
Boone has been a lifelong resident and community organizer.
Zurita wants to digitize records, streamline business processes, provide access to public records in a timely manner and increase voter engagement, according to her campaign website.
Zurita has worked as the senior administrative analyst for the Compton Department of Public Works and is on the Compton Unified School District board.
