State Sen. María Elena Durazo declared victory late Tuesday in the race to represent nearly 2 million residents across Los Angeles County in areas including unincorporated East LA and the San Gabriel Valley.
If backed by official results, Durazo will succeed Hilda Solis in representing District 1 on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Solis was first elected in 2014 and is set to term out this year.
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk showed Durazo with 56% of the vote, ahead of runner-up Elaine Alaniz, who had about 16%. Three other candidates trailed behind.
“This campaign was powered by working people and small business owners who believe LA County can do better,” Durazo said in a statement posted on Facebook. “In the State Senate I fought for fair wages and health care. As your County Supervisor, I will renew that work with urgency, compassion, and a promise to make this government serve its people.”
The five county supervisors manage an annual budget of nearly $50 billion and together represent more than 10 million people across LA County. The supervisors determine countywide policy for jails and juvenile halls, foster care and the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
Leading up to the election, Durazo told LAist that, if elected, she would support raising wages and criticized the county’s response to homelessness, calling it a “massive collective failure.” Durazo also said she would “oppose any new tax breaks, tax incentives, tax subsidies or any other fancier ways of giving away money to people who don’t need it.”
Durazo was first elected to the California State Senate in 2018 and was reelected in 2022 to represent District 26. Her current term will conclude in December. Before joining elected office, Durazo was a prominent labor leader. She served as executive vice president of Unite Here and became the first woman elected secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, where she served from 2006 to 2014.
As a state senator, Durazo championed policies to protect immigrant communities and street vendors. She also pushed back against cuts to healthcare for undocumented immigrants.
More recently, Durazo introduced Senate Bill 1361, which aims to reshape the terms of Senate Bill 79, a California law that allows for new apartment complexes in neighborhoods within a half-mile of major transit stops, regardless of whether the area is zoned for single-family homes.
Durazo previously opposed the bill before eventually voting for it, but now, she is seeking to place restrictions on new developments around transit stops that are still in the planning or construction phase.
East LA residents have expressed opposition to SB 79, saying that increased housing density is a fast track to displacement for longtime residents and gentrification.
As District 1 Supervisor, Durazo could play a key role in the creation and implementation of a Municipal Advisory Committee (MAC) or town council in unincorporated East LA. Officials have spent several years studying options to provide residents with a more formal structure for public input and a direct line of communication to county leadership.
Durazo was endorsed by the LA County Democratic Party, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor as well as former incumbent Solis, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) and LA Mayor Karen Bass.
LAist reporter Libby Rainey contributed to this story.
