Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson stormed ahead in early returns Tuesday night, overshadowing six little-known rivals and potentially securing him four more years in office in a race that strengthens his standing for a potential run for higher office.

With early vote-by-mail ballots and some in-person ballots counted, Richardson was holding just under 60% of the vote. In-person ballots, mail-in ballots that have yet to arrive and provisional ballots remain to be counted.

Joshua Rodriguez, a former law enforcement officer, was in second with 19.6%, followed by local business owner Chris Sweeney at 9.8%. 

Early results in other races also favor incumbents

Results are as of 9:38 p.m. See the latest numbers at results.lavote.gov

Five City Council offices and the city auditor’s seat were also at stake in Tuesday’s primary, with incumbents across the city — except in the 7th District, where longtime Councilmember Roberto Uranga was termed out — holding strong early leads over their challengers. 

City Auditor

  • Incumbent Laura Doud was leading Ginny Gonzalez with 72.4% of the vote compared to 27.6%. They are the only two candidates in the race.

1st District 

  • Incumbent Mary Zendejas was leading with 51.9% of the vote. Deb Kahookele was in second place with 14.9% of the vote. There are six candidates in the race.

3rd District

  • Incumbent Kristina Duggan was ahead with 68.9% of the vote. Rebecca Hinderer was in second place with 24.5% of the vote among four candidates.

5th District 

  • Incumbent Megan Kerr had 52.6% of the vote versus 47.4% for her challenger Tara Riggi. They are the only two candidates in the race.

7th District 

  • LBCC Trustee Vivian Malauulu had 75.9% of the vote. Dameon Gordon was in second place with 16.7%. Jamies Shuford had 7.4% of the vote.

9th District

  • Incumbent Joni Ricks-Oddie led with 69.6% of the vote. Sequoia Neff is her only challenger and had 30.4% of the vote.

Will there be runoffs?

Any candidate who earns more than 50% of the vote in the June 2 primary wins outright. If no candidate reaches that mark, the top two vote-getters will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff. In tight races, final results may not be clear for weeks.

Voter turnout appeared strong Tuesday, with Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan reporting earlier in the day that at around 2 p.m., more than 100,000 voters had cast a ballot in person and nearly 1 million mail-in ballots had been received — about three percentage points higher than the June 2022 gubernatorial primary election. 

Richardson first won his seat in a 2022 general election with 56.6% of the vote, or 63,184 ballots. He received 33,791 votes (44.1%) in the corresponding primary race, earning the lead but not an outright victory over competitor then-Councilmember Susan Price.

None of his challengers this year had as much political experience as Price, and Richardson substantially outraised them all.

Richardson spent more than $358,000, pulling from the $472,000 raised through donations from powerful unions, established Democratic colleagues and many of the defense companies he has helped bring to the city. By comparison, nonprofit executive Terri Rivers spent $17,000, and business owner Chris Sweeney spent nearly $10,000.

The mayor’s race in Long Beach is a tough one for political newcomers. The city has not elected a mayor who hasn’t first sat on the City Council since Beverly O’Neill’s inaugural win in 1994.