From RPV to Long Beach, and from the Coast of San Pedro into Carson, Harris won by two to one
By James Preston Allen and Terelle Jerricks
The votes have almost all been counted, but the vote has not been certified. The one certain thing is that Kamala Harris took Los Angeles County and the rest of California, as well as the entire West Coast by a wide margin. Here in the San Pedro Bay region, she won by some 65% of the votes — San Pedro didn’t vote for Donald Trump, that is certain. From Palos Verdes to Long Beach and from Carson to the coast, there were only two precincts that voted majority for him, both were behind the gates in the super-rich area of Rolling Hills. Still, the sense of despair that permeated the local region after the national vote was declared was palpable. What kind of chaos will the convicted, twice impeached, and indicted former president now sow?
It has already been seen with the proposed cabinet appointments of the corrupt, the incompetent and the MAGA loyalists. And even Republicans are finding it hard to swallow the appointment of Matt Gaetz, the congressman investigated for sex crimes, as attorney general.
California, on the whole, voted in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket. From the vote turnout to the fact that many precincts in Los Angeles County and precincts in our more conservative neighboring counties were a bit less blue or lit significantly more pink than in 2020, suggesting that memories of Trump’s attempted Jan. 6 coup, Trump’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Trump’s 24 hours a day clown show had dimmed.
The biggest difference between the 2020 election and the most recent is that turnout was down by 7%. Four years ago, Angelenos broke for President Joe Biden by a three-to-one margin compared to Vice President Harris’ two-to-one margin in 2024. All of the Los Angeles Harbor Area, Lomita, Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes, Carson, and Long Beach voted the same in 2024 as they did in 2020. This area was not fooled by the reality TV campaign and yet many people sat this one out, as they did across the country. Harris lost by some 20 million votes, which is just a small fraction of the votes in the seven battleground states. This is not a mandate by any definition, but even in some very blue districts and races where Democrats won, Trump garnered a slim majority. This wasn’t true here.
US President
San Pedro
Vice President Kamala Harris–58.51%
Former President Donald Trump–38.67 %
Wilmington
Vice President Kamala Harris– 59.25%
Former President Donald Trump–37.93%
Harbor Gateway
Vice President Kamala Harris– 62.76%
Former President Donald Trump–34.50%
Watts/Athens
Vice President Kamala Harris– 80.56%
Former President Donald Trump–17.75%
Carson
Vice President Kamala Harris– 68.80%
Former President Donald Trump–29.11%
Lomita
Vice President Kamala Harris–51.65%
Former President Donald Trump–45.28%
Long Beach
Vice President Kamala Harris–66.62%
Former President Donald Trump–30.50%
Rancho Palos Verdes
Vice President Kamala Harris–53.64%
Former President Donald Trump–43.32%
Rolling Hills
Vice President Kamala Harris–40.41%
Former President Donald Trump–58.09%
Rolling Hills Estates
Vice President Kamala Harris–50.78%
Former President Donald Trump–46.58%
Torrance
Vice President Kamala Harris–55.47%
Former President Donald Trump–41.65%
Most Democrats won their seats handily, including:
36th Congressional District Rep. Ted Lieu with 66.92%;
42nd Congressional District Rep. Robert Garcia with 65.25%;
44th Congressional District Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan with 68.70%;
33rd State Senate District Lena Gonzalez with 61.97%;
65th State Assembly District Mike Gipson with 68.99%;
66th State Assembly District Al Muratsuchi, 58.28%;
and 69th State Assembly, District Josh Lowenthal with 66.23%.
The closest race that still has yet to be called is the 35th State Senate District between former Rep. Laura Richardson and termed-out incumbent State Senator Steven Bradford
Endorsed candidate Michelle Chambers. Richardson ended election night with a slim lead of nearly 3,500 votes. But as the Los Angeles County Registrar of voter continued its count of mail-in ballots, that lead has been whittled down to a little over 2,000 votes.
Vote-by-mail ballots take longer to process than those cast in person because election officials must check for duplicate ballots, verify signatures, and sometimes remake ballots that have been flattened, damaged, or marked improperly, according to the California Voter Foundation.
As of Nov. 19, about 43,800 outstanding ballots are still being processed. According to the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, all remaining ballots to be processed are either pending voter response and signature verification, or Conditional and Provisional ballots that are pending voter eligibility and verification through the statewide voter registration database.
California allows until Dec. 1 to “cure” problem ballots from voters who made a mistake, such as forgetting their signature, signing in the wrong place or not enclosing their ballot in the proper envelope. County election officials also try to cure ballots with signatures that don’t match a voter’s original registration card.
Compounding the delay is that under vote-by-mail rules in California, the state accepts postmarked ballots for a week after election night, whereas some states, such as Florida, do not accept them after polls close on Election Day.
Another race that was closely watched was the County District Attorney’s race, between incumbent District Attorney Gascon and Nathan Hochman. Signs that Gascon’s campaign was in trouble came in the 2024 primary election in which he won only 21 percent out of a field of 12. The runner Nathan Hochman gathered 17 percent. Riding the criminal justice wave following the massive demonstrations protesting police brutality nationwide in 2020, Gascon defeated incumbent Jackie Lacey and quickly attempted to implement a progressive vision of criminal justice reform.
Gascón’s most controversial policy changes included — halting the filing of gang enhancements, 5-year and 3-year prior enhancements, and Three Strikes enhancements.
During the past year, there have been several cases in which a young person involved in a shooting was released until their trial, only to get involved in another shooting, as was the case with 18-year-old Estrella Rojas in the January 2024 shooting at the Machista Bar in San Pedro.
Nathan Hochman ultimately prevailed by a landslide
San Pedro
D.A. George Gascon–32.92%
Nathan Hochman– 67.08%
Wilmington
D.A. George Gascon–38.97%
Nathan Hochman–61.03%
Harbor Gateway
D.A. George Gascon–36.26%
Nathan Hochman–63.74%
Watts/Athens
D.A. George Gascon–50.21%
Nathan Hochman–49.79%
Carson
D.A. George Gascon–39.46%
Nathan Hochman–60.54%
Lomita
D.A. George Gascon–29.46%
Nathan Hochman–70.54%
Long Beach
D.A. George Gascon–41.42%
Nathan Hochman–58.58%
Rancho Palos Verdes
D.A. George Gascon–28.28%
Nathan Hochman–71.72%
Rolling Hills
D.A. George Gascon–20.07%
Nathan Hochman–79.93%
Rolling Hills Estates
D.A. George Gascon–22.70%
Nathan Hochman–77.30%
Torrance
D.A. George Gascon–26.25%
Nathan Hochman–73.75%
