With just two people running in the Los Angeles City Council District 12 race (if not counting a write-in candidate), the race for this Northwest Valley seat could very well be decided by voters next month without the need for a November runoff election.
Current Councilmember John Lee is seeking reelection – while fighting accusations of ethics violations.
Lee’s challenger on March 5 is Serena Oberstein, who happens to be a former city ethics commissioner and whose campaign stresses the need for “ethical leadership” in a City Hall that has undergone a series of shocking corruption scandals that landed two former councilmembers — Mitchell Englander and José Huizar — in prison.
The candidates are vying to represent Angelenos living in Council District 12, which includes the communities of Chatsworth, Granada Hills, North Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, Sherwood Forest and West Hills. Lee lives in Porter Ranch and Oberstein lives in Northridge.
If either candidate captures a majority of the vote in the March 5 primary election, they win the race outright. But write-in candidate Vas Singh could prevent the leader on March 5 from winning more than 50%, pushing the race to a runoff in November.
The candidates
A member of the City Council since 2019, Lee is endorsed by six current city councilmembers – Paul Krekorian, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Tim McOsker, Traci Park, Heather Hutt and Curren Price, according to his campaign website.
Lee, 53, is vice chair of the council’s Public Safety Committee and is endorsed by the unions representing L.A. police officers and firefighters.
“I am an independent leader. Throughout my council tenure, I have always prioritized the needs of my community, not a partisan agenda,” Lee wrote in response to a questionnaire the Los Angeles Daily News asked the candidates to complete. He was registered as a Republican before switching to “no party preference” in 2019. His campaign said Lee never considered himself…
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