L.A. election: Greuel supporters say they want a woman in City Hall

Some voters who marked Wendy Greuel’s name on their ballots Tuesday said they believe a female mayor would bring more change to City Hall.

After casting her ballot, Nancy Jones sat in her car outside True Everfaithful Missionary Baptist Church in South Los Angeles.

“I voted for her because she’s a woman and because Bill Clinton is behind her,” the 59-year-old said of Greuel. “Let a lady get in there and see what she can do.”

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Also at stake in Tuesday’s election are the offices of city attorney and city controller and seats on the City Council, the L.A. Unified school board and the L.A. Community College District board, along with a handful of ballot measures. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close 8 p.m.

Jones said she didn’t vote on any of the three medical marijuana measures on the ballot because the issue didn’t pique her interest. Instead, she focused on the City Council races and who would be mayor.

For the past few weeks, Jones said she’s received phone calls from Greuel’s campaign staff reminding her about Election Day.

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“I kept telling them I was voting for Wendy but they kept calling,” she said. “I think after today they’ll finally stop calling.”

Darrell Bullock, 53, sat on his bicycle outside the church, a cigarette in his mouth.

He too had just voted for Greuel. As a woman, he said, she would most likely bring much-needed change to the city.

“We need someone who can look out for the community,” Bullock said.

Bullock was just one of two voters who had arrived at the church to vote. By noon, about 30 people had cast ballots. Polling place workers said it was much lower during the primary, but couldn’t recall the total number of voters for the same time period.

Poll workers said they were expecting more voters at the end of the day, after people left work.

In San Pedro, Greuel supporters also trickled into polling places.

“There were things that I heard about her that I liked, but there were also some things that I didn’t like,” said Janet Cotton, who has lived in San Pedro for nine years. “In the end, I felt she was the best fit for me.”

Cotton said she hopes that whoever is chosen as L.A.’s next mayor just does a better job than Antonio Villaraigosa.

One San Pedro voter, Narcisa, who declined to give her last name, said she voted for Greuel because she wanted a woman in City Hall.

“I want change,” she said.

Not far from her, an Eric Garcetti campaign banner was tied to a chain-link fence.

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