Kenneth Mejia
2022 - Present
2026
2
Kenneth Mejia is the Los Angeles City Controller in California. He assumed office on December 12, 2022. His current term ends on December 14, 2026.
Mejia ran for election for Los Angeles City Controller in California. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Mejia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kenneth Mejia was born in Los Angeles, California. Mejia is a first generation Filipino-American. He received his B.S. in accounting from Woodbury University in 2010. Mejia's career experience includes working as a certified public accountant, an auditor for Ernst & Young, a community organizer for the LA Tenants Union, and a board member of the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council.[1][2][3]
Elections
2022
See also: City elections in Los Angeles, California (2022)
General election
General election for Los Angeles City Controller
Kenneth Mejia defeated Paul Koretz in the general election for Los Angeles City Controller on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kenneth Mejia (Nonpartisan)  | 63.3 | 513,288 |
 | Paul Koretz (Nonpartisan) | 36.7 | 297,190 | |
| Total votes: 810,478 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Los Angeles City Controller
The following candidates ran in the primary for Los Angeles City Controller on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kenneth Mejia (Nonpartisan) | 43.1 | 240,374 |
| ✔ | | Paul Koretz (Nonpartisan) | 23.7 | 131,921 |
 | Stephanie Clements (Nonpartisan) | 15.9 | 88,678 | |
 | David T. Vahedi (Nonpartisan) | 7.0 | 39,240 | |
| J. Carolan O'Gabhann (Nonpartisan) | 3.9 | 21,984 | ||
| Reid Lidow (Nonpartisan) | 3.9 | 21,769 | ||
| Rob Wilcox (Nonpartisan) | 2.4 | 13,460 | ||
| Total votes: 557,426 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Meija's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 34
Incumbent Jimmy Gomez defeated Kenneth Mejia in the general election for U.S. House California District 34 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jimmy Gomez (D) | 72.5 | 110,195 |
| Kenneth Mejia (G) | 27.5 | 41,711 | |
| Total votes: 151,906 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 34
Incumbent Jimmy Gomez and Kenneth Mejia defeated Angela McArdle in the primary for U.S. House California District 34 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jimmy Gomez (D) | 78.7 | 54,661 |
| ✔ | | Kenneth Mejia (G) | 12.9 | 8,987 |
 | Angela McArdle (L) | 8.4 | 5,804 | |
| Total votes: 69,452 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Simon Alvarez (R)
2017
| U.S. House, California District 34, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jimmy Gomez |
59.2% | 25,569 | |
| Democratic | Robert Lee Ahn | 40.8% | 17,610 | |
| Total Votes | 43,179 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State | ||||
The election replaced Xavier Becerra (D), who was appointed as California's attorney general.[4] Democrats Jimmy Gomez and Robert Lee Ahn were the top two vote-getters in a primary field of 23 candidates and advanced to the general election. Gomez and Ahn competed in the runoff election on June 6, 2017, when Gomez defeated Ahn by more than 20 percent, 60.1 percent to 30.9 percent.[5] The previous two elections in the district have also featured a general election contest between two Democrats.[6][7][8]
Ahn and Gomez participated in a candidate forum on May 25, 2017, where they discussed the Trump administration, infrastructure, job creation, healthcare, and local issues. During the forum, Ahn emphasized his legal and business background and knowledge of Korean relations, while Gomez highlighted his legislative experience in the California State Assembly and endorsements from progressive organizations like the Bernie Sanders-backed Our Revolution. For an overview of the forum and the candidates' responses, click here.
In the fundraising race, Ahn outpaced Gomez, raising $353,000 between April 1 and May 17. His campaign capital was boosted by an additional $195,000 personal loan. In the same time period, Gomez raised $327,000.[9]
| U.S. House, California District 34 Primary, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |
Jimmy Gomez |
25.4% | 10,728 | |
| Democratic | Robert Lee Ahn |
22.3% | 9,415 | |
| Democratic | Maria Cabildo | 10.1% | 4,259 | |
| Democratic | Sara Hernandez | 5.6% | 2,358 | |
| Democratic | Arturo Carmona | 5.2% | 2,205 | |
| Democratic | Wendy Carrillo | 5.2% | 2,195 | |
| Green | Kenneth Mejia | 4.6% | 1,964 | |
| Republican | William Morrison | 3.2% | 1,360 | |
| Democratic | Yolie Flores | 3.2% | 1,368 | |
| Democratic | Alejandra Campoverdi | 2.4% | 1,001 | |
| Democratic | Tracy Van Houten | 2.5% | 1,042 | |
| Democratic | Vanessa Aramayo | 2% | 853 | |
| Democratic | Sandra Mendoza | 1.6% | 674 | |
| Democratic | Steven Mac | 1.6% | 663 | |
| Democratic | Raymond Meza | 1.2% | 509 | |
| Independent | Mark Edward Padilla | 1% | 427 | |
| Libertarian | Angela McArdle | 0.8% | 319 | |
| Democratic | Ricardo De La Fuente | 0.8% | 331 | |
| Democratic | Adrienne Nicole Edwards | 0.4% | 182 | |
| Democratic | Richard Joseph Sullivan | 0.4% | 155 | |
| Democratic | Armando Sotomayor | 0.3% | 118 | |
| Democratic | Tenaya Wallace | 0.2% | 103 | |
| Democratic | Melissa "Sharkie" Garza | 0.2% | 79 | |
| Total Votes | 42,308 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State |
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2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Xavier Becerra (D) defeated Adrienne Nicole Edwards (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Both candidates advanced past the top-two primary on June 7, 2016, by default.[10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Xavier Becerra Incumbent |
77.2% | 122,842 | |
| Democratic | Adrienne Nicole Edwards | 22.8% | 36,314 | |
| Total Votes | 159,156 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |
Xavier Becerra Incumbent |
78.6% | 71,982 | |
| Democratic | Adrienne Nicole Edwards |
21.4% | 19,624 | |
| Total Votes | 91,606 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State |
||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kenneth Mejia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mejia's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- I am the only Certified Public Accountant in the race, with over 10 years of experience auditing large corporations and government organizations, and I want to apply those skills to holding our City government accountable in LA. In fact, our campaign is already doing the work of city controller. We’ve exposed improper timekeeping by City employees who made over $500,000 a year, mostly in overtime, and we’re providing groundbreaking resources, such as an interactive map for low-income renters to locate affordable housing units. You can check out our affordable housing map and other resources such as a heatmap of parking tickets in LA and a visualization of LAPD traffic and pedestrian stops here: mejiaforcontroller.com/resources.
- The City Controller needs to be an independent watchdog holding power accountable, and we’re proud to be running a grassroots campaign with the most volunteers and donors in the race, while our main opponent is a career politician who has bounced between jobs in municipal and state government for the last 30 years. We do not accept donations from executives, decision-making personnel, and PACs/associations in the following industries: Oil & gas, real estate development, Wall Street, aerospace & defense, media & entertainment, pharmaceuticals, insurance, telecommunications, and law enforcement. As Controller, we won’t be beholden to these special interests, allowing us to focus on the needs of Angelenos, not our big donors.
- You don’t have to take our word for it. We’ve been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, La Opinion, and dozens of other community leaders and organizations such as the Sunrise Movement LA, Dr. Melina Abdullah (co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA), California State Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, City Councilmember Mike Bonin, and actor/activist Kendrick Sampson.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2018
In an email to Ballotpedia, Mejia said the following were his top platform points:
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| —Kenneth Mejia[2] | ||
2017
The following issues were listed on Mejia's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
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| —Kenneth Mejia's campaign website | ||
2016
The following issues were listed on Mejia's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
| “ |
|
” |
| —Kenneth Mejia's campaign website, http://kennethmejiaforcongress.nationbuilder.com/ | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Los Angeles City Controller |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on May 18, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ballotpedia's Elections Team, “Email communication with Kenneth Mejia," June 30, 2018
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Kenneth Mejia," April 5, 2022
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Gov. Brown taps California's Rep. Xavier Becerra to be state's first Latino attorney general," December 1, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "U.S. House of Representatives District 34 - Districtwide Results," accessed June 7,2017
- ↑ KPCC, "Governor calls June 6 election to replace Becerra in House," January 25, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Field of candidates running to succeed Xavier Becerra in Congress keeps growing," February 10, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "U.S. House of Representatives District 34 - Districtwide Results," April 5, 2017
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Morning Digest: Tennessee Republican Mae Beavers, sponsor of anti-porn bill, running for governor," May 31, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates for Voter-Nominated Offices June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election," accessed April 4, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "California Primary Results," June 7, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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