Mitch O'Farrell

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Mitch O'Farrell
Image of Mitch O'Farrell
Prior offices
Los Angeles City Council District 13

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 8, 2022

Contact

Mitch O'Farrell was a member of the Los Angeles City Council in California, representing District 13. He assumed office in 2013. He left office on December 12, 2022.

O'Farrell ran for re-election to the Los Angeles City Council to represent District 13 in California. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

O'Farrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

O'Farrell's professional experience includes holding senior positions on the staffs of then-Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti.[1]

Elections

2022

See also: City elections in Los Angeles, California (2022)

General election

General election for Los Angeles City Council District 13

Hugo Soto-Martinez defeated incumbent Mitch O'Farrell in the general election for Los Angeles City Council District 13 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Hugo Soto-Martinez
Hugo Soto-Martinez (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
57.8
 
38,069
Image of Mitch O'Farrell
Mitch O'Farrell (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
42.2
 
27,797

Total votes: 65,866
Candidate Connection = 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 Council District 13

Hugo Soto-Martinez and incumbent Mitch O'Farrell defeated Kate Pynoos, Steve Johnson, and Albert Corado in the primary for Los Angeles City Council District 13 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Hugo Soto-Martinez
Hugo Soto-Martinez (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
40.6
 
19,196
Image of Mitch O'Farrell
Mitch O'Farrell (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
31.6
 
14,952
Image of Kate Pynoos
Kate Pynoos (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
15.6
 
7,371
Image of Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
7.7
 
3,648
Image of Albert Corado
Albert Corado (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
4.4
 
2,081

Total votes: 47,248
Candidate Connection = 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 O'Farrell's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles, California (2017)

The city of Los Angeles, California, held primary elections for mayor, eight city council seats, city attorney, and city controller on March 7, 2017. Three community college board of trustees seats were also up for general election on that date.

Most races where no candidate earned a majority (50% plus one) of the primary votes cast advanced to a general election on May 16, 2017. This rule did not apply to the community college board races, which were determined by a plurality winner in the March election.[2]

This election was the second impacted by Charter Amendment 1. Passed in March 2015, the amendment shifted city elections to even-numbered years beginning in 2020. As a result, officials elected in 2017 won special five-and-a-half year terms ending in 2022. The following candidates ran in the primary election for the District 13 seat on the Los Angeles City Council.[3]

Los Angeles City Council, District 13 Primary Election, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Mitch O'Farrell Incumbent 59.26% 17,053
Sylvie Shain 15.07% 4,338
Jessica Salans 13.56% 3,902
David De La Torre 5.33% 1,534
Doug Haines 3.90% 1,123
Bill Zide 2.88% 829
Total Votes 28,779
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "March 7, 2017, Election Results: Statement of Votes Cast," accessed May 22, 2017

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Mitch O'Farrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by O'Farrell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a dedicated public servant and longtime community activist. Mys lived experience has shaped my values and how I serve. I'm a member of the Wyandotte Nation, where my grandfather served as chief and my mother was an active member of the Wyandotte community. With the Wyandotte, my connection to the earth and its creatures was formed. My work on the environment and animal protection is deeply rooted in my Native American culture.

Much like families today, my family experienced financial hardships, housing and food insecurity. My family moved around a lot as a result of being evicted several times. I went to six different schools by the time I reached the fifth grade. When my father, a truck driver, joined a union, it brought much-needed stability and basic benefits like health care. This is why I continue his fight for working families that are struggling. He is one of them.

I have deep roots in Council District 13. I'm a 30-year resident of Glassell Park and began my career in public service as a volunteer. I co-founded the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council, and was president of the Glassell Park Improvement Association. I turned this volunteer work into a full-time job joining the staff of Council District 13, first as a field deputy and later promoted to District Director where I oversaw constituent services and community improvement projects.
  • I am a steady hand at a time of great challenge - exactly what Los Angeles needs right now.
  • I am leading LA's transition to 100% carbon-free, renewable energy - and we won't get there without experienced leadership.
  • I have led on affordable housing and homelessness, and reduced homelessness 23% in Council District in recent years.
I am a lifelong environmentalist and am honored to serve as the chair of the Council’s Committee on Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice and the Los Angeles River (ECCEJR). If re-elected, I want to continue my aggressive leadership on LA100. That plan, adopted unanimously by Council last year, is LA’s blueprint to achieve 100% carbon-free energy by 2035. We are well on our way, but it will take expertise, leadership and, frankly, impatience to get there — a job for which I am well-suited.
Los Angeles City Council offices have the enormous ability to directly affect people's daily quality of life - more so than any other office in government, I would argue. I believe this is why I am the right fit for this work, because I've always been passionate about my community and improving my surroundings.

Council offices are responsible for being the conduit between constituents and City departments and agencies, and can help make things happen in a variety of ways - from public works projects, like tree trimming and street repair, to larger policy initiatives, like raising the minimum wage to achieving clean energy, to playing a role in land use matters and ensuring affordable housing gets built. Strong Councilmembers know their districts inside and out, are deeply rooted within the communities they serve, and know how to make positive change happen.
An elected official must be rooted in the community that they serve, must prioritize integrity, and must listen to their constituency, especially those who are the most vulnerable.
Serving on the LA City Council is not about looking at only one issue; it is about tackling multiple issues head-on and making often difficult decisions that will best serve our City. My supporters are reflective of the incredible diversity of CD13 as well as my lived experience and successful approach to getting things done.

The residents of this district deserve a Councilmember with context and experience. I did not have to talk my way into this role. I was elected because I had produced results in the district. I was re-elected because I have continued to produce results in my current role as the elected official.
All of my priorities, from my previous chairmanship of the Homelessness and Poverty Committee, to my current role as the chair of the Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Los Angeles River Committee, have been created with other underserved communities in mind. My focus on job training and improvements to the shelter and housing safety nets, coupled with my dogged approach to ensuring that covenanted affordable housing is created, is warranted in the Los Angeles of today. These efforts continue in myriad ways, including: directing the LADWP to create a workforce hiring plan that focuses on a “just transition” to carbon-free, renewable energy, while ensuring equitable access to Angelenos from all neighborhoods, but especially marginalized communities; my legislative efforts to address the rise in hate crimes against the AAPI community; and my years of work, partnership, and advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ+ people, especially the transgender community. I will continue to be a strong and passionate advocate for the health and safety of Angelenos, especially the most vulnerable.
I grew up gay in 1970s Oklahoma, and had to persevere through quite a bit. I was 14 years old when I realized I was gay, and I made the determination that I was going to survive and make the most of this life. As a result, I've got thick skin and I come from pretty tough stock - but it was a struggle to persevere. These personal struggles were coupled with the very difficult economic struggles my family and I faced when I was growing up, including never owning a home, facing multiple evictions, and going to six different public schools by the time I reached fifth grade.
Absolutely. These jobs require a deep understanding and knowledge of how to get things done. Now more than never, Los Angeles cannot afford elected officials with no experience working in government or politics. That is especially true in my district and in this race.
In order to accomplish big picture ideas, you not only need to know what and how to get things done, you need to have relationships and partnerships to see them through, and you need to have context and knowledge about the district, the City, and the levers of government.

That’s what sets me apart in this race — my deep experience, my breadth of connections and context, and my good-natured impatience to get things done! For example, during my time as the chair of the Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice and River committee, I’ve put that good-natured impatience to good use, and it’s paying real results for Angelenos as we make the just transition to 100% carbon-free, renewable energy.

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.

Campaign finance

2017

O'Farrell had received $403,363.48 in contributions and had made $293,553.06 in expenditures, leaving the campaign with $109,846.42 on hand as of reports available from the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission on February 27, 2017.[4]

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Los Angeles City Council District 13
2013-2022
Succeeded by
Hugo Soto-Martinez