State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas came out on top in the race for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, but fell way short of a majority. He and Councilman Bernard Parks will pummel the 2nd district with mailers and phone calls for another five months and settle it in November.

• Ridley-Thomas 56,951 45.29%
• Parks 50,051 39.8%

Former lawmaker Rod Wright beat Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, possibly retiring the 82-year-old former Lieutenant Governor. Wright has to go through the motions in November to take a seat in the state Senate.

• Wright 20,380 43.9%
• Dymally 16,291 35.09%

Fran Pavley handily beat Assemblyman Lloyd Levine in the 23rd Senate district, across the Valley and Westside, to take another shot at getting back into the Legislature.

• Pavley 30,330 67.6%
• Levine 14,534 32.4%

Former Howard Berman aide Bob Blumenfield (and his father) easily dispatched with Stuart Waldman and Laurette Healey in the Valley's 40th Assembly District.

• Blumenfield 8,608 53.31%
• Waldman 3,397 21.04%
• Healey 3,327 20.6%

Other politics notes:

• District Attorney Steve Cooley was reelected, but with just 64% of the vote against two lesser-known candidates.
• Labor leader and Villaraigosa cousin John Perez won the Democratic nomination to succeed Fabian Núñez in the Assembly and will become the first gay man of color in the Legislature.
• Proposition 98 was defeated by a wide margin statewide, while Prop. 99 won easily.
• Assemblyman Bob Huff beat former Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy in the Republican primary in the 29th Senate district, in the Walnut area.
• Isadore Hall beat three other Democrats in the 52nd Assembly District, which includes Watts and Compton.
• Long Beach city councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal won on the Democratic side in the 54th Assembly district.
• Norma J. Torres got the Democratic nomination in the Inland Empire's 61st district.
• Just over 16% of registered voters vast ballots in Los Angeles County. All results.