Traci Park elected in Westside district, putting a record 6 women on L.A. City Council

Traci Park, shown in August, has been elected to succeed Mike Bonin on the L.A. City Council, representing Venice and other coastal neighborhoods. Municipal law attorney Traci Park claimed victory Thursday in the bitterly contested election to represent the Westside on the Los Angeles City Council, saying her more than 5,000-vote lead was too large for civil rights and criminal defense lawyer Erin Darling to overcome, eight days after the end of voting. Park’s election in Council District 11 ends a string of victories in the fall election for progressive candidates in L.A. — including Kenneth Mejia as controller and Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez as City Council members. “Voters spoke convincingly that they want a different kind of leader and CD11 has sent a message that the Westside is done with ‘business as usual’ at City Hall.” Darling acknowledged via Twitter that he and his advisors no longer saw a “path to victory.” He said he had been “heartened” by the support for his campaign, which he called “a last-minute, totally grassroots, at times shoestring-budget affair.” He wished Park “the very best” in the hard work of healing “the rancor and divisiveness of the last two years,” adding that “the Westside and L.A. in general are in deep need of healing and leadership that transcends race and economic status.” Park, 46, will succeed retiring Councilmember Mike Bonin in the district composed of communities from Pacific Palisades to Los Angeles International Airport.