City Hall opposites face no challengers

There are now just two City Hall incumbents who remain unopposed in their bids for reelection.

- By Juuia Wick

COUNCILMEMBER Hugo Soto-Martínez, left, in 2024, and Councilmember Tim McOsker in 2020.

So how did Councilmembers Tim McOsker and Hugo Soto-Martinez get so lucky, at least for now? And what do they have in common?

At first glance, not a ton. One is a boomer grandfather who has forgotten more about City Hall machinations than most of us will ever know.

The other is a millennial leftist who ousted an incumbent three years ago.

McOsker, the City Hall veteran and proud son of the San Pedro docks, hails from one ofthe more conservative districts in the city, which stretches from Watts through Harbor Gateway down to San Pedro. Soto-Martinez, the democratic socialist former union organizer, represents what is arguably the most progressive (and hippest) district in the city: a densely packed collection of neighborhoods that includes Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater and Hollywood.

Inournewera of L.A. city politics, where incumbents are far less inviolable than they once were, it’s rare to see two go entirely unopposed.