Sylmar voters re-elected Supervisor Lindsey Horvath with 63% of the vote in District 3 while rejecting Measure ER, a half-cent sales tax that would have raised $1 billion annually for healthcare services. The measure fell at 47.3% yes to 52.7% no.
Sylmar residents cast their ballots in the June 2 primary that decided the fate of their county supervisor seat and a half-cent sales tax meant to shore up local healthcare services. The results landed squarely against the tax measure and in favor of incumbent Supervisor .
Horvath captured 63% of the vote in District 3, easily clearing the 50% threshold needed to avoid a November runoff. Her closest challenger, Tonia Arey, finished with 18.6%, followed by Carmenlina Minasyan at 9.6% and Tomas Sidenfaden at 8.8%, according to semi-official results released Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office.
Horvath declared victory Tuesday night, saying the results signaled voter confidence in her approach to county governance.
"We have won tonight," Horvath said. "These voters are voting with confidence on the changes I am bringing in L.A. County."
District 3 covers 446 square miles and includes Sylmar, San Fernando, Studio City, Encino, Sherman Oaks, and stretches from Santa Monica to Hollywood, according to the LAist voter guide.
The more consequential result for Sylmar families may be the defeat of Measure ER, the proposed half-cent sales tax increase designed to offset federal cuts to Medi-Cal.
As of Wednesday evening, 52.7% of voters opposed the measure while 47.3% supported it, according to the Registrar-Recorder's office. The tally included 666,926 no votes and 597,748 yes votes, according to reporting from Los Angeles Patch.
Measure ER would have raised the county sales tax from 9.75% to 10.25% for five years, generating an estimated $1 billion annually for healthcare services. The tax would have sunset on October 1, 2031.
County officials projected that federal cuts to Medi-Cal under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed by President Donald Trump last year would cost the county's health departments roughly $800 million annually, or $2.4 billion over three years, according to LAist.
An analysis by the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center estimated that about 1.1 million of Los Angeles County's 3.8 million Medi-Cal enrollees could lose coverage by 2028.
"Measure ER allows us a funding mechanism to keep our county hospitals, our county clinics, our community health centers open," said Dr. Jerry Abraham of Kedren Health in South Los Angeles, according to CBS Los Angeles. "He says that means life-saving medication, expanded mental health services and street outreach."
Opponents of the measure argued that Los Angeles County already carries the highest sales tax rates of any major metropolitan region in the nation.
"They take a bigger share of the income of lower-income people, and it is very harsh to do that," said Susan Shelley of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Aidan Chao, chairman of the Los Angeles County Taxpayers Association, led the "No Blank Checks LA" campaign against Measure ER.
"We are cautiously optimistic it is on a track to fail," Chao said. "It is a taxpayers' revolt."
Supervisor Kathryn Barger cast the sole dissenting vote when the Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the ballot in February.
"Backfilling federal funding cuts on the backs of county taxpayers is not acceptable," Barger said at the time, according to Patch. "Los Angeles County residents are already stretched thin."
The Registrar-Recorder's office will continue counting ballots through June 26, with daily updates expected. Final results must be certified by July 10.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell and former Supervisor Hilda Solis introduced Measure ER. Mitchell argued that healthcare services in the county face dire losses without the funding.
"With ballots still being counted, it is still too early to know the final outcome of Measure ER," said Teresa Eilers, campaign manager for Yes on ER, in a statement Wednesday, according to the Daily News.
For Sylmar residents, the defeat of Measure ER means county health clinics and hospitals will need to absorb the projected funding gap without the additional revenue. How those cuts play out on the ground remains to be seen.
Horvath's re-election gives her a second four-year term to steer District 3 policy, including decisions on homelessness spending, jail reform, and the county's response to the Palisades Fire recovery.
This story was reported from sources including the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office, the Daily News, LAist, CBS Los Angeles, Los Angeles Patch, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
This article was generated with AI assistance.