By Incumbent Daryl Supernaw is set to serve a third and final term as the District 4 council member for the Long Beach City Council which includes Cal State Long Beach as the final votes are tallied in the 2024 election.
According to the latest information from the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office, as of Nov. 7, the incumbent has a decisive lead over challenger Herlinda Chico. Supernaw garnered 59.14% of the votes, with over 11,000 votes in his favor. Chico received 40.86% of the votes, rounded upwards of approximately 7,500 votes.
In an interview with the Long Beach Current, Supernaw expressed his happiness with the election results, emphasizing his office’s ability to listen and respond to issues facing his district’s residents.
“I believe I clearly represent the people. I don’t have anyone else I answer to, and that message really rings true to the residents,” Supernaw said.
Chico spoke with the Current days after the election and thanked the over 7,000 constituents who voted for her.
She said that the total votes she received as a candidate in this election are sometimes the total number of votes received by all candidates in any election.
“We know the gap will close, but we don’t think that we can close that gap enough to overcome the loss,” Chico said.
She reiterated that she was proud of the campaign and the work done.
After the final tally and with an official win, Supernaw will serve four more years on the Long Beach City Council. At the end of his next term, he will have served on the council for 13 years.
Supernaw first won the 4th District seat during a special election in 2015 after incumbent Patrick O’Donnell was elected to the California State Assembly and vacated the seat.
During the 2015 election, Supernaw ran against Richard Lindemann and Chico, winning over 50% of the vote.
In his final term as a council member, financial, public safety and quality of life issues are Supernaw’s top priorities. He said the financial and public safety issues are linked, and he would not eliminate any element of public safety to balance the budget.
“Those are one of the things I wouldn’t touch in a budget, and that is police levels, firefighters, paramedics, their apparatus…” Supernaw said.
Along with the rest of the city council, he hopes to examine efficiencies and revenue generation in the coming year.
According to Supernaw, every council office gets the same amount of money from the city-wide budget. The budget information can be found on the City of Long Beach’s financial management section of its website.
District 4 is one of the larger districts in the city, but it does not receive additional funding for its budget.
Redistricting in 2021 changed the scope and size of Long Beach’s fourth district. A 2021 report by the Long Beach Redistricting Commission, utilizing 2020 census data, said the district had more than 51,000 people.
Supernaw said the 4th District retained about 40% of its total population, and an additional 60% of the district’s voters were new and had very little time to get to know him.
During the March 2024 primary election, Supernaw received 48.45% of the vote, with 6,481 votes in his favor.
Supernaw’s campaign website touted his connection to the communities of District 4, focusing on his public safety work and economic effectiveness in office.
According to his campaign statement, his work in the council office budget has garnered $1.5 million, which has been redirected to various district improvements and community events.
He also noted his support of the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court and securing funds for rent in a homeless housing project to address the area’s homelessness issues.
Chico has committed to organizing and mobilizing the community despite not having a direct role on the council. She hopes to share her experience in working through bureaucracy with the community at large.
More information on the returning council member can be found on his campaign website, and information on District 4 can be found on its website.
