Race for LA’s new county executive post officially begins. It could be a historic battle

It will be at least four years, and perhaps eight, until California voters elect another governor.

However, in just two years they will fill a brand new office that will rival the governorship in political importance. And it already has its first candidate.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced Monday she will run for county executive in 2028, and most likely will be one in a large field of candidates. Every ambitious politician in the county will at least consider running, including dozens of state legislators, members of Congress and L.A. City Council members.

The reason is simple: Whoever fills the office will not only be the top official in a county of 10 million residents — essentially its mayor — but automatically she or he will be the leading potential candidate for governor or U.S. senator.

Horvath, whose 3rd supervisorial district includes the county’s wealthiest neighborhoods, such as Santa Monica, Malibu and Beverly Hills, voted with three other supervisors to create the executive office and expand the Board of Supervisors from five members to nine.

County voters in 2024 endorsed the restructuring, the most far-reaching change in California’s local governments since the 19th century. It’s long overdue for a county that is more populous than many states, infinitely culturally and economically diverse and boasting a $54 billion budget.

Governance by a five-member board and an appointed executive often has been a recipe for confusion and sometimes gridlock. When problems arise, voters don’t know who should be held accountable. The system works well enough in smaller and less diverse counties but not so well in larger, more diverse counties.

That said, the only county that has something like the new Los Angeles structure, the city and county of San Francisco, has not been a paragon of effective governance. Its elected mayor and 11-member Board of Supervisors often spar over issues, and dozens of semi-autonomous commissions make matters more difficult than they should be.

However, San Francisco’s first-term mayor, Daniel Lurie, has assembled a working majority on the Board of Supervisors and has been chipping away at the confusing array of commissions. He won some city charter reforms in last week’s elections.

While the Los Angeles county executive will be elected in 2028, seats on the revamped Board of Supervisors will not be filled until 2032, when data from the 2030 census will be used to draw the nine districts.

“Los Angeles has never been a place that dreams small,” Horvath said in a statement. “But for too long, our county government has moved too slowly, failed to meet the moment, and allowed bureaucracy to stand in the way of progress. I fight every day to reform our government because I believe the people of Los Angeles deserve better — a  government that works for them, delivers real results, and is accountable to the people it serves. “

Ever since voters approved the reconfiguration of county government, there have been under-the-radar maneuvers over who might take a stab at the executive position. It’s not surprising that Horvath is running. Now that she’s broken the ice, we can expect others to quickly emerge, because in politics two years is just a moment in time.

And given what happened in the mayoral contest for the City of Los Angeles last week — Mayor Karen Bass’ defeat by Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist city council member — the 2028 election of county executive could be an historic ideological battle. The winner would be positioned for a top state office and for national prominence.