Kenneth Mejia

Last updated

Mejia announced his candidacy for City Controller, a nonpartisan office, in the 2022 Los Angeles elections. [24] It has been historically uncommon for the city controller to have extensive accounting experience; Mejia claims the office has never been held by a CPA. [10] He was the only city candidate in 2022 to receive ballot access through signatures alone. [4] During his candidacy, Mejia drew attention to Los Angeles Fire Department employees receiving more than half a million dollars a year, the use of about half of the city's funds from the American Rescue Plan on the Los Angeles Police Department, and the amount of police funding in the budget proposed in 2022 by Mayor Eric Garcetti. [25] [26] [27] [24] [28]

On June 7, 2022, Mejia took first place in the primary for LA City Controller, with over 230,163 votes. He obtained 42.75% of the vote, while opponents Paul Koretz and Stephanie Clements obtained 23.83% and 16.01%. [29] On November 8, 2022, Mejia won the general election in a landslide with 62% of the vote, defeating Koretz. [3]

Tenure

Mejia appointed Rick Cole to serve as his Chief Deputy Controller and Sergio Perez to serve as Chief of Accountability and Oversight. Cole is an Urban Studies professor and was the former mayor of Pasadena and deputy mayor for Los Angeles. Sergio Perez left his position as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Inspector General to serve. [30]

Electoral history

2016 California's 34th congressional district election

Kenneth Mejia
Kenneth Mejia, 2022.jpg
Mejia in 2022
20th City Controller of Los Angeles
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 12, 2022
California's 34th congressional district election, 2016 [31] [32]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Xavier Becerra (incumbent)71,98277.6
Democratic Adrienne Nicole Edwards19,62421.2
Democratic Kenneth Mejia (write-in)1,1771.3
Total votes92,783 100.0
General election
Democratic Xavier Becerra (incumbent) 122,842 77.2
Democratic Adrienne Nicole Edwards36,31422.8
Total votes159,156 100.0
Democratic hold

2017 California's 34th congressional district special election

California's 34th congressional district special election, 2017 [33]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jimmy Gomez 10,728 25.5
Democratic Robert Lee Ahn 9,415 22.2
Democratic Maria Cabildo4,25910.1
Democratic Sara Hernandez2,3585.6
Democratic Arturo Carmona2,2055.2
Democratic Wendy Carrillo 2,1955.2
Green Kenneth Mejia1,9644.6
Democratic Yolie Flores1,3683.2
Republican William Morrison1,3603.2
Democratic Tracy Van Houten1,0422.5
Democratic Alejandra Campoverdi 1,0012.4
Democratic Vanessa Aramayo8532.0
Democratic Sandra Mendoza6741.6
Democratic Steven Mac6631.6
Democratic Raymond Meza5091.2
No party preference Mark Edward Padilla4271.0
Democratic Ricardo De La Fuente 3310.8
Libertarian Angela McArdle 3190.7
Democratic Adrienne Nicole Edwards1820.4
Democratic Richard Joseph Sullivan1550.4
Democratic Armando Sotomayor1180.3
Democratic Tenaya Wallace1030.2
Democratic Melissa "Sharkie" Garza790.2
Democratic Michelle Walker (write-in)00.0
Total votes42,308 100.0

2018 California's 34th congressional district election

California's 34th congressional district election, 2018 [34] [35]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jimmy Gomez (incumbent)54,66178.7
Green Kenneth Mejia8,98712.9
Libertarian Angela Elise McArdle 5,8048.4
Total votes69,452 100.0
General election
Democratic Jimmy Gomez (incumbent) 110,195 72.5
Green Kenneth Mejia41,71127.5
Total votes151,906 100.0
Democratic hold

2022 Los Angeles City Controller election

2022 Los Angeles City Controller election
Primary election
CandidateVotes %
Kenneth Mejia240,37443.12
Paul Koretz 131,92123.67
Stephanie Clements88,67815.91
David T. Vahedi39,2407.04
James O'Gabhann III21,9843.94
Reid Lidow21,7693.90
Rob Wilcox13,4602.41
Total votes557,426 100.00
General election
Kenneth Mejia509,75763.32%
Paul Koretz 295,33836.68%
Total votes805,095 100.00

References

  1. ↑ "Meet Kenneth". April 15, 2022. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 simonchinivizyan (June 3, 2022). "Kenneth Mejia, City Controller Race Frontrunner, Claimed Bogus CPA Status For Years". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Election Results". results.lavote.gov. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Regardie, Jon (March 14, 2022). "Election L.A. 2022: Angelenos Will Have a Lot of Choices on June 7". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Stack, Liam (August 1, 2018). "Green Party, Eyeing the 2020 Presidential Race, Prepares for the Midterms". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  6. ↑ "LA-based Filipino American candidates sound off on political, police accountability —". Asian Journal News. June 20, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  7. ↑ Radio, Southern California Public (March 29, 2017). "34th District: Meet the candidates vying to replace Xavier Becerra". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 "Alumni Mejia Write In Campaign". Woodbury University. May 25, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Congressional candidate Kenneth Mejia on going Green and growing up Fil-Am —". Asian Journal News. September 8, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Wisti, Erin (April 13, 2022). "Kenneth Mejia Wants You to Know How LA is Spending Your Tax Dollars". Knock LA. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Kenneth Mejia Contributions" (PDF).
  12. ↑ Mejia, Kenneth. "Meet Kenneth". Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  13. ↑ "What Does a Progressive City Controller Look Like? Kenneth Mejia Will Tell You". RIFT Magazine. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Essential Politics: State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to open Washington office, cap-and-trade auction revenue results are revealed". Los Angeles Times. March 2, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Essential Politics: Archived stories from December 2016". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  16. ↑ Cook, Rhodes (November 12, 2019). America Votes 33: 2017-2018, Election Returns by State. SAGE Publications. ISBN   978-1-5443-5446-0.
  17. ↑ Mai-Duc, Christine (March 15, 2017). "The latest test of the Bernie Sanders movement may be in this L.A. race for Congress". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  18. ↑ "California Needs Kenneth Mejia in Congress. An Interview with the Green Party's Rising Star". HuffPost. April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Inside the Campaign of Green Party Congressional Candidate Kenneth Mejia". Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists. April 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  20. ↑ "California politics updates: Gov. Brown takes his transportation plan on the road, 'sanctuary state' bill amended". Los Angeles Times. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  21. ↑ Medenilla, Klarize (June 8, 2018). "Some Fil-Am congressional candidates advance to Calif. general election". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  22. ↑ https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2018-general/sov/48-congress.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  23. ↑ It's not easy to run, he says, but it's worth it - CNN Video, October 29, 2018, retrieved April 12, 2022
  24. 1 2 Romero, Joaquin (August 27, 2021). "These Progressive Candidates Want to Transform LA in 2022". The Nation. ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Column: To anti-vax firefighters, bye-bye. Now let's build back better at the LAFD". Los Angeles Times. December 4, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Update: At The Peak of The Defund Era, L.A. Received $600 million in COVID Relief, Half Went to LAPD". L.A. TACO. March 22, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  27. ↑ "California cities spent huge share of federal Covid relief funds on police". the Guardian. April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Revealed: LAPD used 'strategic communications' firm to track 'defund the police' online". the Guardian. December 15, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  29. ↑ "Election Results". results.lavote.gov. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  30. ↑ "DWP's first inspector general leaves after seven months". Los Angeles Times. December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Primary Election - Statement of Vote, June 7, 2016" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  32. ↑ "General Election - Statement of Vote, November 8, 2016" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Final Official Election Results - Congressional District 34 Special Primary Election, April 4, 2017". California Secretary of State. April 4, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  34. ↑ "2018 California primary election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  35. ↑ "2018 California general election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 10, 2019.
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