CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Winning just less than 36% of the ballots in Tuesday’s special election for the vacant 26th State Senate District seat, Democratic Assemblyman Curren Price Jr. topped a field of eight candidates.

But because he fell short of the majority required to win the office in the open primary, Price must go through a May 19 runoff before he can claim the seat in the heavily Democratic district.

Republican Nachum Shifren, who earned slightly less than 12% of the vote Tuesday, and Cindy Varela Henderson of the Peace and Freedom Party, who finished with less than 2%, will appear with Price on the runoff ballot.

Among Democrats, who make up about 66% of the district’s registered voters, Assemblyman Mike Davis of Los Angeles finished second, with almost 22% of the vote. He was followed by county commissioner and former Price aide Robert Cole, with 13%; financial analyst Jonathan Friedman and Culver City school board member Saundra Davis, who each earned slightly less than 8%; and management consultant Mervin Leon Evans, who garnered less than 1%.

The 26th District includes part of Hollywood, Larchmont, Silver Lake, some Westside Los Angeles communities, Culver City, parts of South Los Angeles and Baldwin Hills and Ladera Heights.

-- Jean Merl