Koretz acknowledges Mejia victory in L.A. controller race

Los Angeles City Council member Paul Koretz admitted Wednesday he would not win the LA City Controllers race after rival Kenneth Mejia had a comfortable lead in the first election results.

Mejia announced the victory in a tweet on Tuesday evening. “WE MADE IT!” he wrote.

Despite a significant fundraising advantage, Koretz, 67, trailed Mejia by more than 20 points early Wednesday. The veteran politician spent most of the runoff focusing on attacking Mejia, who also finished well ahead of Koretz in the primary.

“At this point in time I will clearly not win,” said Koretz.

At another point, Koretz said he thought Mejia won the race. Still, the city council suggested his campaign might not take the formal step of concession.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever bother to make a concession statement,” Koretz said. “It’s not like people are waiting to hear from the controller candidates.”

Mejia, 32, largely relied on Twitter and TikTok to reach out to voters, using videos and maps to examine city spending and explain the little-known work of the controller, who serves as comptroller and chief accounting officer .

“We changed the game. We basically took on the role of city controller before we were elected,” Mejia said in his election night speech, according to a video posted online.

Mejia campaign manager Jane Nguyen said the accountant’s campaign had “unprecedented outreach”.

“Our message of transparency and accountability has resonated with voters from all walks of life who are fed up with the status quo,” Nguyen said.

Koretz said he did not attend Tuesday night’s Hollywood Palladium event, where incumbent Democrats, including mayoral candidate Karen Bass, gathered to watch the return. “We had a quiet Chinese meal with some friends and mostly family members and campaign workers,” Koretz said.

Koretz will leave the city council in December after serving a maximum of three terms.