By Daniel Larios
Staff Writer

November 5, 2014 -- Former state legislator and Santa Monica resident Sheila Kuehl won a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, beating former Santa Monica Mayor Bobby Shriver in a hotly contested, and expensive race, that turned nasty in the final month.

With 100 percent of the precincts counted, Kuehl won 52.8 percent of the vote (114,348 votes) to Shriver's 47.2 percent (102,319), according to the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office.

"I think it's safe to say that I’ve won this race," Kuehl said. "I’m thrilled to start this work after such a long run, and I’m really looking forward to working with everyone to make the county work even better.”

At her election party at the Victorian in Santa Monica, Kuehl – who won the backing of major unions --thanked her supporters for helping her get elected to the Board.

“We have an amazing coalition of people who I’ve worked for — civil rights, the environment, women’s issues and children’s issues and transportation,” Kuehl said. “And they all came together, because, of course, when people vote, they’re expressing a hope.”

Shriver called Kuehl to concede the race Wednesday morning.

“Sheila was gracious in victory,” Shriver said.  “We had a good conversation about our challenging and spirited campaign. After 25 debates, I know Sheila will bring strength and conviction to her service on the Board of Supervisors.”

 He also used Twitter to congratulate Kuehl on her hard fought victory.

“Congrats @SheilaKuehl!” he tweeted.  “And gratitude to the volunteers and both teams who worked hard to bring choice to LA voters. Great days are ahead!”

Kuehl also took to Twitter to thank voters and supporters.

“With deepest thanks to all of you who helped me get to this moment!” she tweeted, along with a cartoon of her holding a copy of the Los Angeles Times with the headline “Extra, for Supervisor. Winner! Sheila Kuehl!”.

“Now comes the work!”

Kuehl gained big margins in the eastern portion of the Third district where she secured more than 60 percent of votes cast in Los Feliz and West Hollywood and carried the San Fernando Valley neighborhoods that connect with the 101 Freeway, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of the election results.

Shriver did the best in the more affluent areas, including Beverly Hills, Malibu, the northern ring of the Valley, and Granada Hills.

Kuehl, Shriver and their backers raised and spent more than $8 million in the hard-fought race to replace Yaroslavsky.

The election was seen as the one of the most important and high profile Board of Supervisors race in years due to the shift in the balance of power on the five-member Board towards either organized labor (Kuehl) or business and development interests (Shriver).

Outgoing supervisor Gloria Molina is being replaced by former Obama administration Labor secretary and former congresswoamn Hilda Solis, who won election in June with strong union backing.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas won his seat on the board in 2008 with the help of more than $8 million in union spending.

The race saw public sector unions contribute campaign money to support Kuehl, while Shriver's campaign attracted support from investment, development and real estate interests as well as Hollywood donors. 

Kuehl will be replacing longtime and outgoing supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky in the third district, which stretches from Hollywood to Santa Monica and includes the entire San Fernando Valley.

“Zev has been wonderful,” “He’s been so good on all of the issues that we care about and I’ll be happy to follow in his footsteps.  But I also have a heart of my own.  Very interested in the foster kids and I know a lot about the healthcare system.