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| Eric Garcetti |
(Scroll down for video) The city of Los Angeles, California has elected its first Jewish mayor.
Eric Garcetti will be the next mayor of Los Angeles after receiving the majority of the votes in the latest election.
At 3:00 am Wednesday, with 100 percent of votes counted, Garcetti had received 54 percent of the vote.
His rival Wendy Greuel, who received 46 percent of the vote, called Garcetti shortly before 2:00 am, to concede.
Garcetti thanked voters via twitter shortly after 3:00 am.
Unofficial exit polls conducted by Loyola Marymount University predict a victory for Garcetti, of 54 percent to 46 percent. The survey was conducted by the Center for the Study of Los Angeles and asked 800 people in 25 different districts. The survey also includes the results of a telephone survey of people who voted by mail.
Greuel had initially promised to wait until every vote has been counted before reaching any conclusions about the race. However, Greuel gave a speech at election headquarters in downtown Los Angeles shortly before 11:00 pm Tuesday, in which she thanked the volunteers, staff and supporters.
“The City of Los Angeles is not an easy city to run. I wish Garcetti the best of luck. The Jewish community is happy to have a friend as the mayor,” Jack Harrison, 70, of Los Angeles, California told YourJewishNews.com after being asked to comment about Garcetti’s election victory.
Expenditures of the Garcetti and Greuel campaign exceeded $33 million, making it the most expensive campaign in Los Angeles history.