Gay Los Angeles city council candidate elected
Los Angeles City Council District 11 has once again elected a gay man for city council.
Mike Bonin, the longtime chief of staff of retiring District 11 councilman Bill Rosendahl, will now take over from his boss.
The outgoing Mr Rosendahl was a two term councilman and he is also gay.
Mr Bonin won on Tuesday night by a landslide, earning 61.9% of the votes. Candidates require more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff in May.
He said on his website: “I am grateful, relieved and thrilled to report that I won an outright victory yesterday, winning 61% of the vote. I am truly humbled to have earned 17,566 votes — more votes than any other city council candidate in the City of LA!”
Mr Bonin was quick to jump into the race, receiving an endorsement from Mr Rosendahl and managed to secure other major endorsements from politicians, neighbourhood groups and labour unions.
During the election, he raised $357,000 (£237,000) which was far more than his rivals Odysseus Bostick, Fred Sutton and Tina Hess, none of whom raised close to even $100,000 (£66,380).
Mr Bonin will now represent the Westside of the city.
He said: “Working together, I know that we will move Los Angeles forward, do good, and get things done.”
There are several gay candidates who are still looking to win elections in Los Angeles including LA City Controller candidate Ron Galperin, LA Council District 13 candidate Mitch O’Farrell and mayoral candidate Kevin James.
