Your guide to the 2022 L.A. City Council District 13 primary election

By Times staff

June 5, 2022 1:43 PM PT

The City Council’s 13th District was rocked last year when Los Angeles cleared out a large homeless camp at Echo Park Lake, which became a flashpoint in the citywide debate about how to respond to the crisis of unhoused people in L.A.

Now, four people are challenging Mitch O’Farrell, the incumbent who supported the clearing of Echo Park Lake. If no one receives a majority in the primary election Tuesday — a likely scenario with such a large field — the top two will face off in the Nov. 8 runoff.

The candidates

Albert Corado, community activist
Steve Johnson, L.A. County Sheriff’s Department sergeant
Mitch O’Farrell, Los Angeles City Councilman
Kate Pynoos, political aide
Hugo Soto-Martinez, organizer with hotel workers’ union.

The district

District 13 runs from Hollywood through Silver Lake and Echo Park south to MacArthur Park and north into Glassell Park..

Fundraising

Here are the latest candidate fundraising numbers from the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

The race

Homelessness has emerged as a huge issue in the race. O’Farrell has described the Echo Park operation as a success, saying it restored the public’s access to the park and removed an encampment plagued by crime and heavy drug use. Corado, Pynoos and Soto-Martinez criticized the Echo Park operation, and vowed to repeal the city’s anti-camping law, which O’Farrell supports. Also at play is the question of defunding, and even abolishing, the police. O’Farrell says he opposes both ideas, hitting back at his rivals on that issue.