ELECTIONS

Los Angeles County Public Defender Ron Brown walked into a Pomona court Wednesday and saw first-hand the impact of Proposition 47 — the voter-approved initiative that reduces penalties for drug possession and other nonviolent crimes.

Surrounded by some of Los Angeles County's most powerful politicians, Jim McDonnell gave a victory speech that marveled at how far he had come from a working-class Boston neighborhood to lead the nation's largest sheriff's department.

When political neophyte Pete Peterson was thinking about running for California secretary of state, his mentor urged him on with surfer logic: "Sometimes you need to be the guy in the water when the wave hits."

Teachers unions defended their ground in California this week — and bucked national trends — by helping to reelect a state schools chief in a race with broad implications for education policy and politics.

After years of noisy protests and angry marches, Anaheim residents voted in favor of creating City Council districts, giving a voice to those who contend the resort city has long marginalized people living in its dense urban core.

Lee Weinstein, who is 87, says he's never missed a chance to vote. It riles the former aerospace engineer when others don't bother and then have the nerve to whine.

Challenger Marshall Tuck conceded Wednesday morning to incumbent Tom Torlakson in the contest for California superintendent of public instruction, a race  that became the most expensive on the state ballot.

With preliminary election results showing her far ahead, former state lawmaker Sheila Kuehl said her competitor in the race for Los Angeles County supervisor, Bobby Shriver, called Wednesday morning to concede the closely watched contest.

Here is a breakdown of some big issues facing California cities and counties and how they fared in Tuesday's election:

Larry Agran has spent a generation as the face of Irvine as it grew from a startup community to a more cosmopolitan city recognized for its safe streets and high-performing schools, sometimes as a council member, often as its mayor.

In the only Los Angeles County election that remained too close to call Wednesday, county assessor candidate Jeffrey Prang maintained a small lead over challenger John Morris.