Incumbents, Campbell win Hermosa Beach council seats
Election night winners Mary Campbell, Hany Fangary and Stacey Armato are surrounded by their colleagues on the council, Mayor pro tem Jeff Duclos and Mayor Justin Massey. Photo
Hermosa Beach voters chose Tuesday to retain City Council incumbents Stacey Armato and Hany Fangary, and added school board member Mary Campbell, establishing a firmly progressive identity for the coming council.
With all precincts reporting, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder gave Armato 1,834 votes, 1,524 to Campbell and 1,495 to Fangary. Although the three winners did not officially run as a slate, they voiced similar ideas in public statements and appeared together at a victory party Tuesday night.
The next closest finisher Tuesday night was former Councilmember Peter Tucker, with 1,187 votes, followed by Trent Larson with 884 and Matt McCool with 681. Christopher Cenci, who did not actively campaign and did not participate in any of the three candidate debates, received 280 votes.
The hard-fought campaign continued a contentious year of local politics that began with an uproar over aspects of PLAN Hermosa, the city’s updated General Plan and Local Coastal Program. Although the plan eventually passed with the unanimous approval of the council, early hearings for that document featured outraged residents promising to exact revenge at the ballot box.
But on Tuesday night, Fangary said that the council’s recent actions were what propelled his success.
“It boils down to the accomplishments of the current council. We brought an end to legacy issues: the risk of oil litigation, deciding on fire services, and starting our sewer replacement,” Fangary said.
Thanks to a state law designed to boost voter turnout by aligning local elections with national ones, the three winners will serve five-year terms. The extra year was among the factors cited by departing Councilmember Carolyn Petty, who chose not to seek reelection.
Along with old-fashioned precinct walking, the election seaason featured frequent battles on social media, with people of all political alignments exchanging barbs. But on Tuesday night, the candidates themselves said they strived to run campaigns “above the fray,” and had deliberately avoided negativity.
“I feel really proud of the campaigns all three candidates ran. We stand for civility, positivity, and bringing the community together no matter what. And I’m looking forward to continuing to be a part of that,” Campbell said.