A fun fact about this year’s elections in Inglewood is that they’re, by definition, a primary.
That means that even though we’ve got results, it’s not over. Any race where none of the candidates received more than half of votes cast will now see the top two vote-getters move to a runoff.
As of Friday morning, Inglewood Councilmember Gloria Gray leads five challengers for the mayor’s seat with 32.24% of votes, while incumbent Mayor James Butts is close behind with 28.10%, according to the LA Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Both Gray and Butts told The LA Local on Friday they expect the mayor’s race to head to a runoff, though votes are still being counted.
And though she hasn’t cracked the top two so far, candidate Fre’Drisha Dixon told The LA Local she’s not ready to concede. As of Friday morning, she trailed by more than 2,600 votes; countywide, about 550,000 votes have yet to be counted.
Here’s what this all means.
Wait, what’s a runoff?
In California, primaries aren’t organized by political party: All candidates running for office are listed on the ballot.
In Inglewood’s case, a candidate must win a majority of votes (50% plus one) to win outright. If no one reaches that threshold, the top two vote-getters move on to a general election.
After Tuesday’s election, neither Butts nor Gray received a majority of votes, so they’ll be headed to a runoff election to decide who will be mayor.
Inglewood City Council District 1 could also head to a runoff. As of Friday morning, Keokia Childress currently leads the pack with nearly 40% of the vote, with Yolanda Davidson (27.96%) and Leonard Redway (23.72%) trailing in second and third, respectively.
So, when would the runoff election take place?
Inglewood voters should expect to return to the polls on March 2, according to Inglewood City Clerk Aisha Thompson, whose office manages the city’s elections.
The candidates who receive the most votes in the runoff will be named the victors.
When were the last runoffs?
It’s been 15 years since Inglewood voters saw a runoff for mayor.
Though Butts has won multiple elections outright, he originally took office via a runoff. In 2011, he notably unseated incumbent Mayor Daniel K. Tabor, winning 55.69% of the total votes to Tabor’s 44.31%, according to city records.
More recently, Gray beat incumbent District 1 Councilmember George W. Dotson in a 2023 runoff, securing over 66% of the vote. Four hopefuls are now vying for Gray’s open seat — and that may end up in a runoff as well.
Why are California elections like this?
California voters approved the state’s “top-two” election system in 2010, and the law went into effect in January 2011.
The idea was pitched as an engine of both political moderation and more meaningful choice. Both the Democratic and Republican parties were opposed.
Proponents argued that pulling candidates out of a purely partisan primary system would encourage them to appeal to voters across the ideological spectrum, rather than just the party base.
In districts where one party dominates the field, allowing multiple candidates from that same party to compete was meant to make general elections competitive.
Read more about the state’s top-two primary system from CalMatters.
LA Local reporters Isaiah Murtaugh Barish and LaMonica Peters contributed to this report.
