Schiff, Antonovich, Barger take firm leads in respective races, but 43rd Assembly seat still tight
Voters of different affiliations came out to make their voices heard by voting at City Hall in Burbank on Tuesday, June 7, 2016.
With about 436 precincts reporting and most mail-in ballots counted, some candidates representing the local area in the primary election have taking resounding leads over their opponents, while others have not.
As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian was far behind Kathryn Barger, chief of staff to Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, in their bid to replace the longtime official.
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According to early polling numbers Tuesday, Barger had 28,344 votes, while Najarian tallied 14,138.
State Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) was just edging out the Glendale council member by 884 votes.
In the race for the seat for 43rd District state Assembly, Glendale City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian was holding onto a thin lead over Glendale Councilwoman Laura Friedman. Kassakhian, so far, had earned 9,508 votes compared to Friedman’s 8,398.
The two Glendale elected officials have been in a heated race, which ramped up as the primary election drew near. Recently the candidates criticized one another’s campaign contributions.
Since the beginning of the year, Friedman has amassed $303,702 in campaign contributions, while Kassakhian raised $199,321, according to the Secretary of State’s financial records.
But overall, dating back to when both of their campaigns were formed in 2014, Kassakhian has raised the most money with a war chest of roughly $685,000 to Friedman’s $665,000, records show.
One of Friedman’s key issues is combating the effects of climate change and mandating increased uses of clean energy and more environmentally friendly methods of transportation. She wants to establish a small business initiative to help start-ups.
In addition to serving two terms on the Glendale City Council, she spent six years on the Metropolitan Water District’s board.
Kassakhian was first elected as city clerk in 2005 and has twice been reelected.
He wants to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 and reduce overhead costs at community colleges in order to make tuition free.
Things are also heating up in the bid for the seat for the 25th District state Senate. Antonovich, who is termed out of his county supervisor role this year, took a commanding lead over former state Assemblyman Anthony Portantino. Antonovich tallied 21,090 votes, while Portantino trailed behind with 14,667.
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) was running away in his reelection race with 28,646 votes.
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
