Friedman victorious in 43rd state Assembly district race
With roughly 65% of the votes, Glendale Councilwoman Laura Friedman won the 43rd state Assembly district race, according to election results Tuesday night.
With all precincts reporting, Friedman received 72,212 votes, and her opponent, Glendale City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian, trailed with 38,471 votes, or about 35%.
Although the mood for the Friedman campaign was tense early Tuesday night due to the then-incoming results of the presidential returns, when her numbers initially came in, people were celebrating at the Phoenicia Restaurant, where Friedman spent the evening.
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“I’ve been very inspired on the campaign trail talking to people all across the district and hearing how much people have compassion for their fellow citizens,” Friedman said. “People always talk about concerns for their fellow citizens. Assuming that I win, I’m going to be very honored to try to help with all those wishes.”
After all precincts had reported, Friedman said on Wednesday she’s ready to take on her Assembly role.
“I feel an awesome sense of responsibility and a lot of desire to do right by the people who put faith in me -- and the people who didn’t. I want to do a really good job and this district deserves it. There’s a lot of promise and challenges and I want to get to work on them as soon as I can,” Friedman said.
“Next week, there is a mandatory two-day training for new Assembly members [in Sacramento] and that’s where I’ll find out what the next order of things is,” she added. “ I just have to start moving in and getting ready to get sworn in so that I can hit the ground running. Between now and then, I’m still a councilmember and there are things to do to get ready to leave my position.”
Kassakhian did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.
Since 2009, Friedman represented Glendale as a councilwoman and served as mayor from 2011 to 2012. A small business owner for many years, Friedman spent time in the entertainment industry prior to holding office.
For more than a decade, Kassakhian has served Glendale as its city clerk and was the youngest person elected to office in the city’s history. He also helped attract new businesses to Glendale while serving as secretary of the Glendale Economic Development Corp.
Friedman and Kassakhian are both Democrats who during a candidate forum in October expressed many of the same priorities for the city, disagreeing only on the source of the issues. Neither wants to extend the 710 Freeway with a tunnel, and the two agree on preserving the former Rockhaven Sanitarium in Montrose and fostering clean energy.
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Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com
Twitter: @JeffLanda
