Politics & Government

Dababneh, Shelley Head to Nov. 19 Runoff

Neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote for the state Assembly District 45 seat to replace Bob Blumenfield who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in March.

A Democrat and a Republican will compete in a runoff election for the 45th Assembly District.

Democrat Matt Dababneh, district director for Congressman Brad Sherman, attracted 5,318 votes, or 24.6 percent of the total in Tuesday's Primary, to become the leading vote-getter in the race to succeed Bob Blumenfield, who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in March.

Republican Susan Shelley was second, with 4,637 votes, or 21.4 percent.

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Since neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election between the top two vote-getters will be held on November 19 to determine the winner.

District 45 includes parts or all of Calabasas, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Encino, Hidden Hills, North Hills, Northridge, Reseda, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, West Hills, Winnetka and Woodland Hills.

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Reached on his cell phone, Dababneh told the Daily News was humbled to come in first place.

“It’s been a long campaign, and I have a lot of respect for my competitors,” Dababneh, 32, told the newspaper. “The Valley has spoken and I’m very proud to be the top vote-getter.”

“Well, it feels great,” Shelley told the Daily News, from her campaign headquarters in Woodland Hills. “And we worked very hard and we took our message to the voters and we explained all the abuse going on in Sacramento.”  

Democrat Jeff Ebenstein, a field deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, received 3,003 votes, or 13.9 percent of the total.

Republican Chris Kolski received 2,797 votes, or 12.9 percent.

Democrat Andra Hoffman, a Glendale college teacher who was endorsed by Blumefield, had 2,123 votes, 9.8 percent.

Democrat Damian Carroll, district director for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, had 1,424 votes, 6.6 percent of the count.

Democrat Dennis DeYoung, a businessman/financial consultant, had 606 votes, or 2.8 percent.

Another Democrat, business owner Elizabeth Badger, had 581 votes, or 2.7 percent.

Republican Armineh Chelebian, an accountant/political consultant, had 562 votes, 2.6 percent.

Eric Lewis, a neighborhood council president who did not state a political affilation, had 383 votes, 1.8 percent.

Democrat Dan McCrory, a businessman, had 222 votes. That's 1 percent of the total.

Separately, Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell won a special election to succeed Curren Price in the California State Senate, defeating fellow Democrat Mervin Evans.

Mitchell had 17,121 votes, or 80.6 percent of the total for Senate District 26. Evans had 4,109 votes, or 19.4 percent.

The special election in the district was triggered by Price's election to the City Council.

-- City News Service contributed to this report.


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