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Scott Svonkin, a long-time political aide and union-supported school board member, appears to have defeated Lydia Gutierrez, a teacher whom some had labeled a Tea Party-like candidate, for a hotly contested seat on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. The race was too close to call Tuesday night, but The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that an unofficial vote tally gave 52.3 percent to Svonkin and 47.7 percent to Gutierrez. The race closely resembled another community college trustee election in Montana, which took place earlier this month, in which the relative political conservatism of some of the candidates became an issue of much public debate. For instance, Svonkin called out Gutierrez in the Los Angeles race for her support of the state's recent ban on gay marriage. On the other side, Gutierrez argued that Svonkin was too close to the faculty union and too supportive of the status quo, given his political background.
