And the woman on the City Council will be...Nury Martinez *

I didn't see this coming. Former school board member Nury Martinez defeated Cindy Montañez tonight for the vacant seat on the Los Angeles City Council — in a battle of former San Fernando City Council members who represent rival factions of Northeast Valley Democrats. Martinez won by a substantial margin — 55 percent to 45 percent — and the gap of 824 votes is magnified since only 10 percent or so of voters cast ballots. There were 9,110 votes counted tonight, per the final bulletin from the City Clerk. Martinez had the backing of Wendy Greuel, Antonio Villaraigosa, Rep. Tony Cardenas, state Sen. Alex Padilla and the Daily News. Montañez, who has tried running for a couple of new posts now since her Assembly career ended, had the backing of Mayor Eric Garcetti, Council President Herb Wesson, Rep. Brad Sherman and the Los Angeles Times. I guess her political future is in staff jobs.

When she is seated, Martinez will be the only woman holding elective office at Los Angeles City Hall.

Noted: This is a huge turnaround from the primary election, when Montañez finished first with 43 percent to Martinez's 24 percent. Montañez had a 3,000-vote lead in the primary results.