Fourth District Councilmember Daryl Supernaw appears headed for a November runoff and a ballot measure aimed at increasing the minimum wage for hotel workers continues to widen its lead as Los Angeles County election officials update vote tallies from last Tuesday’s election.
Supernaw, who is seeking a third term in office, has hovered around the 49% mark and now has 5,700 votes but if he doesn’t get over 50% of the vote, the race for the East Long Beach seat will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.
Who his opponent will be has fluctuated since last week, but Herlinda Chico, a current member of the Long Beach City College board of trustees has jumped into second place and built a 367-vote lead over former Fifth District Councilmember Gerrie Schipske.
The race was the only one out of the four City Council races eligible to advance to November because it was the only race with more than two candidates.
Who’s running. What’s at stake.
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Long Beach’s other competitive race in the March primary proposed higher wages for employees at large hotels in the city. Measure RW, which would raise hotel minimum wages in the city to nearly $30 per hour by 2028 at hotels with more than 100 rooms, appears to be on the verge of victory.
Since election night, the “Yes” vote on Measure RW has steadily grown and now is 3,609 votes ahead of the “No” vote. Either side needs a simple majority to win.
In an update posted on X, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office said that over 84,000 more ballots had been processed since its last update Saturday night. The office said Monday it has just 238,500 ballots left to process countywide.
The county is expected to release several more updates over the coming weeks and could certify the results by March 29, according to the post.