Mayor's race: Garcetti's lead over Greuel widens to 8 points

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L.A. mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti greets supporters at the Hollywood Palladium on Tuesday night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel and some supporters take the stage during an election night gathering at the old Pacific Stock Exchange. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti greets supporters at his election night party at the Hollywood Palladium. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel greets supporters during an election night gathering at the old Pacific Stock Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Former L.A. County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti greets supporters of his son, L.A. mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, at an election night party at the Hollywood Palladium. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Mitch O’Farrell, a candidate for Council District 13, greets supporters at his election night party at the St. Felix Bar in Hollywood. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Mike Feuer, right, a candidate for city attorney, gets a hug from his friend Leon Alkalai on election night. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel is flanked by her son Thomas, 9, and her husband, Dean Schramm, as she monitors election returns at the old Pacific Stock Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Supporters of L.A. mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel gather at the old Pacific Stock Exchange in downtown Los Angeles for an election night gathering. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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John Choi, a candidate for Council District 13, hugs his mother, Myung Choi, on election night at Mohawk Bend Restaurant. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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“Yes on D” campaign manager Nam Le, left, claps during an election night gathering at Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood as the medical pot measure takes an early lead. John Grant, center, and Rick Icaza, both with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, also show their enthusiasm. The measure would limit the number of pot shops in the city to about 130. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Supporters of Proposition D celebrate its early lead at the Lucky Strikes bowling alley in Hollywood. The measure would limit medical marijuana dispensaries to those that existed before the adoption of a failed 2007 moratorium on new pot shops. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Betsy Richardson casts her ballot at Los Angeles City Fire Station No. 88 in Sherman Oaks. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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John Monahan is the first to cast his vote at the UFCW Local 770 hall in Harbor City. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Barbara Meijers walks out of the Voyager Motor Inn in Van Nuys after casting her ballot Tuesday. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Paul Maes walks away from the polling booth to turn in his ballot as he carries his dog, Rocko, next to a leaping dolphin at the Cetacean Society building at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Goldfard of Encino walks past empty voting booths after bringing his mail-in ballot to Los Angeles City Fire Station No. 88 in Sherman Oaks. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Where to hang the flag? Poll workers Esperanza Gaytan, left, Mathew Klempa and Barry Copilow, holding the flag, try to decide on the right spot at Allesandro Elementary School in Silver Lake. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Deborah Murphy tries to control her dog Fiona while voting at Allesandro Elementary School. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A sign hangs from the wheelchair of Marcelo Nuno Aceves as he casts his ballot at the Hollenbeck Park Recreation Center in the Boyle Heights. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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Cindy White casts her vote for Wendy Greuel at Sinai Temple on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti and wife Amy Wakeland hug before casting their ballots at Allesandro Elementary School in Silver Lake. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Wendy Greuel watches as her son, 9-year-old Thomas Schramm, submits her ballot at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Studio City. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, with wife Amy Wakeland, casts his ballot at Allesandro Elementary School in Silver Lake. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Wendy Greuel watches as her son, Thomas Schramm, places an “I Voted” sticker on her jacket. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Eric Garcetti speaks to reporters after casting his ballot in Silver Lake. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Wendy Greuel, with husband Dean Schramm, answers questions outside her polling place in Studio City. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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City Atty. Carmen Trutanich jokes with his daughter, Kristin, and her son Nathan, 14 months, before he casts his ballot in Harbor City. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Esperanza Gonzalez checks her ballot after voting at the Hollenbeck Park Recreation Center in Boyle Heights. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

By Seema Mehta, Maeve Reston and Laura J. Nelson

May 22, 2013 1:43 AM PT

With more than half of precincts reporting, City Councilman Eric Garcetti’s lead over mayoral opponent Wendy Greuel widened to 8 points in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

As of 1 a.m. PDT Wednesday, Garcetti led Greuel 54% to 46% in the race to replace termed-out mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. As the first election returns came in earlier in the night, mainly from mail-in ballots, Greuel led the race. Within hours, it was a dead heat.

Tuesday’s election marked the end of two years of campaigning for Greuel and Garcetti. Both criss-crossed the city on their last day on the campaign trail in a last-ditch attempt to encourage voters in a city that has had historically low voter turnout.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.’s race for mayor

At an election-night party at the Hollywood Paladium on Tuesday, Garcetti took the stage to thank Greuel for her service and to suggest that the race was tipping in his favor.

“I’m ready to fight for L.A.’s future,” Garcetti told more than 1,000 people who fanned out across the theater under crystal chandeliers and blue lights. “Tonight is just the beginning. Our work has just begun. Tomorrow we will roll up our sleeves and we will get to work rebuilding a great Los Angeles.”

He thanked his volunteers, noting that the “people-powered campaign ... had a commitment to let the voters of Los Angeles choose the next mayor, not any power brokers.”

Live video analysis: Wednesday, noon to 2 p.m.

After pushing past six other candidates in the March primary, Garcetti and Greuel leaned on large, unregulated spending by outside groups. Garcetti repeatedly criticized Greuel for the nearly $6 million that outside groups, including the union for Department of Water and Power workers, contributed to her campaign. The flood of money and advertising from those groups largely went toward tearing down the two contenders, alienating many Angelenos who hadn’t already been left cold.

Greuel, speaking during her campaign party at a downtown Los Angeles nightclub, said the election was too close to call Tuesday night. She said she was feeling “déjà vu” from her first race for City Council, which she won by 225 votes.

“For those peddling predictions or projections tonight, you’d be wise to keep your powder dry, and your eyes on the city clerk’s website,” Greuel said.

Greuel choked up and her voice cracked as she thanked her husband Dean and her 9-year-old son Thomas, who were with her on stage.

“Thomas and Dean have kept me connected to the world throughout this process, and they reminded me on many occasions, that no matter what I’ve gone through in the course of this campaign, it pales in comparison to the hardships that so many Angelenos go through every day,” she said.

Greuel turned to Thomas, and noted that he was awake at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday to hang door hangers.

“Thank you, Thomas, for being the beacon that has guided me through often the troubled waters of this campaign. Being a mom, a city controller and a candidate is challenging, but in the end I did it all for you,” she said. “Because I want you and all of the children of Los Angeles to grow up in a better, cleaner and safer Los Angeles.”

The results reported on the city clerk’s website might not be final for several weeks. Even after all precincts report their results, there are thousands more mail-in ballots to be counted and verified, a process that can take up to three weeks.

In the March primary election, the process took the full 21 days allowed by City Charter, although the final tally did not differ substantially from election night. Garcetti led Greuel by 3.7% on March 5 and stretched that to 4.1% after the final 82,000 votes had been counted.

Garcetti spent three terms representing a district that includes Hollywood and Silver Lake.

As city budget deficits spiraled into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Garcetti -- then the council president -- was at the center of negotiations to balance the books. He helped persuade his council colleagues to agree to cutbacks, including reducing the city workforce, raising the retirement age for future civilian workers from 55 to 65 and increasing the amount employees pay toward pensions and healthcare.

Before she was elected controller, Greuel, 51, represented parts of the San Fernando Valley on the council for eight years.

She began her political career working in Mayor Tom Bradley’s office, worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration and served as a political operative at DreamWorks SKG.

In the primary, Greuel and Garcetti defeated three serious but underfunded contenders -- Republican radio host and attorney Kevin James, Councilwoman Jan Perry and technology executive Emanuel Pleitez. All three endorsed Garcetti.

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