By Eddie Cota

Whittier has not seen an election night like this in a long time. If Tuesday's early results are any indication, voters were ready for a change.

In the first ballot count from the April 14 Whittier City Election, James Becerra is leading the mayor's race with approximately 68% of the vote. Mayor Joe Vinatieri, who has held a seat on the city council for more than two decades, is trailing with roughly 31%.

The story in the council races looks the same. In District 2, Vicky Santana is leading with approximately 64% of the vote, while Octavio Martinez trails with roughly 24%.

In District 4, Aida Susie Macedo is leading with approximately 69%, while Fernando Dutra trails with roughly 25%.

Across all three races, the leaders are not just ahead. They are ahead by a lot.

To understand the scale of what these numbers represent: Joe Vinatieri has been on the Whittier City Council for 20 years and has served as mayor for the last 10. Fernando Dutra has held a council seat and various commission positions for 26 years. If these results hold, two of the longest-serving figures in Whittier's political history would be leaving office on the same night, defeated by wide margins.

These are early results. Tuesday night's count included mail-in ballots received before Election Day and in-person ballots from the weekend voting period. Additional counting rounds are scheduled for Wednesday, Friday, and next Tuesday at City Hall, as remaining mail-in and other ballots are processed. Results become official once the City Council certifies the final count. But the margins are wide enough that the direction of these races is already clear.

Turnout was low. Engagement was not.

Off-cycle elections are genuinely hard. Unlike many cities that align their local elections with the November state or national ballot, Whittier holds its city elections separately in April, so they do not appear alongside a governor's race or a presidential contest. There is no built-in reason for most people to know local election is even happening. Getting voters to show up takes real effort, and historically in Whittier, most registered voters do not.

But this year looks different. With counting still underway, the mayor's race has already recorded 11,660 votes cast, more than the 8,015 total votes counted in the 2024 mayor's race. Final turnout numbers will not be known until all ballots are counted, but the early indication is that more Whittier residents participated in this election than the last one.

Those numbers alone do not tell the full story, but context matters. More people showed up anyway, and that points to something real. The candidates, the issues, and the stakes connected with residents in a way that does not happen by accident. People paid attention this cycle. And when they did, they voted.

A vote to end off-cycle elections could be coming

All three leading candidates have expressed support for moving Whittier's city elections to align with the state election calendar. Under that change, Whittier voters would cast ballots for local offices alongside major statewide races. For example, this year, California holds its state primary on June 2, with races including governor at the top of the ticket. Elections like that naturally draw far more voters to the polls, and when more people show up for the big races, more people vote in local ones too.

If that change moves forward, Tuesday's election could turn out to be a pivot point: a low-turnout race that produces leadership committed to making sure future races look nothing like it.

Final results will continue to be updated as additional ballots are counted in the coming days.