by SUEVON LEE | @suevlee
editor@charactermedia.com
David Ryu hung on to his second-place finish in the primary race for the District 4 seat on the L.A. City Council and will advance to the May 19 runoff against Carolyn Ramsay, according to certified results released Friday by the city clerk.
If he prevails in the general election, the Korean American Ryu, the director of development at a nonprofit health care provider, would be the first Asian American to sit on the City Council since Mike Woo served from 1985 to 1993.
It was a nail-biting race since the March 3 primary. Ramsay, a former aide to termed-out District 4 councilmember Tom LaBonge, led with 15.3 percent of the vote while Ryu trailed closely behind with 14.6 percent of the vote. A mere 61 votes separated him from the third-place candidate in a crowded 14-person race.
After all mail-in ballots were accounted for, Ryu’s lead over Tomas O’Grady widened by 207 votes, according to Friday’s certified results, qualifying him for the runoff. In the end, Ramsay pulled in 3,719 votes and Ryu, 3,634 votes. The two candidates were the top fundraisers in their race.
In a Facebook post early Friday evening, Ryu said that he and his team will “continue to run our campaign in the general just as we have in the primary—knocking on doors, listening to residents, and working on solutions to improve our community.”
The L.A. City Council, the city’s governing body, is composed of 15 members from single-member districts who serve four-year terms.
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Featured image via Los Feliz Ledger
