Traci Park declared victory Nov. 17 in the race for the Los Angeles City Council’s 11th District seat, as her opponent, Erin Darling, conceded.
The race to replace Councilman Mike Bonin was the only one of the four council races entering Thursday in which there had not yet been a declaration of victory or a concession.
Park led Darling by more than 5,000 votes after Thursday’s update. Darling had trimmed Park’s lead since Election Day, but still trailed 53 percent to 47 percent after an additional 131,611 ballots were added to the count by the Los Angeles County Registrar.
“While the margin’s been tightening, as we’ve been monitoring the votes, my team and I no longer see a path to victory,” Darling said in a statement.
Darling congratulated Park and wished her the best.
“In the wake of the rancor and divisiveness of the last two years and the shocking, damaging attitudes on the leaked tapes, the Westside, and L.A. in general, are in deep need of healing and unity that transcends race and economic status,” Darling said.
Bonin did not run for re-election. Darling positioned himself as the more progressive candidate in the race, while Park criticized Bonin’s progressive policies.
With Park’s victory, four council seats up for grabs in the Nov. 8 election are now set.
Earlier this week, Hugo Soto-Martinez declared victory in the 13th District race over incumbent two-term Councilman Mitch O'Farrell. Tim McOsker handily beat Danielle Sandoval in the 15th District race, and Katy Young Yaroslavsky won in the 5th District.
Park is an attorney who focuses on labor and employment law and civil rights litigation. Park has sought to portray Darling as similar to Bonin, beginning with the approach to the 41.18 ordinance. One of the more progressive members of the council, Bonin was one of two dissenters on adjusting the 41.18 ordinance that made it illegal for encampments to be within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers.
At a candidate forum hosted by the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club at Palisades High School in October, Park said she was in full support of the ordinance and would seek to expand it to areas around libraries, parks, canyons, hillside communities and sensitive environmental habitats.
“I have called out irresponsible and failed approaches to homelessness and homeless interventions that we have seen in our community,” Park said.
Darling, meanwhile, claimed that if Park won, she would be the “most conservative member” of the council. Both Darling and Park are Democrats.
Park, during the candidate forum, said that she was “concerned about the assault on women’s rights” amid the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. She said she would support using federal infrastructure funding to bring drought mitigation measures to Los Angeles.
On building housing, Park said she would support “smart, sustainable developments in places where it is appropriate,” adding that she “will make sure that developments are compliant with environmental, regulatory and other zoning requirements.”
