Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes appeared to be edging out former Mayor Jim Dear in the race for the city’s top elected post, according to early returns from the Los Angeles County registrar’s office.

Davis-Holmes had about 62% of votes, while Dear had nearly 38%, as of about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday.

The initial round of results were composed entirely of vote-by-mail ballots that arrived before Election Day.

Dear previously served as the city’s mayor for two terms, from 2004 to 2013, and a partial term from 2013 to 2015, when he resigned to run for city clerk. He was elected to that post in 2015 but was recalled by voters in 2017. He was defeated in a recall vote following months of skirmishes with city leaders and allegations of harassment, prompting the City Council at that time to unanimously censure him. Dear has repeatedly said the charges were false.

Davis-Holmes, meanwhile, became the city’s first Black female mayor when she was elected in 2020, defeating rivals in a four-way contest that included then-Mayor Al Robles and Dear. Before that, she served 10 years on the Carson City Council.

Davis-Holmes has stressed issues such as clean energy initiatives, enhanced internet connectivity, expanded park spaces and plans to bolster the housing stock for residents.

Her priorities included safety, with a project that will include high-definition security cameras being installed at all city parks and entrances, along with speed trailers to monitor vehicular speed.

“We’re propelling Carson toward a future where sustainability, innovation and inclusivity light the way,” she said, referring to Carson as the “jewel of South Bay.”

Among the projects she unveiled were:

Three solar installations in Districts 3 and 4 in partnership with Prologis and the Clean Power Alliance to supply electricity harnessed from sunlight to the local grid, with three additional installations planned by 2025.

A modification to plans involving the 20 Tesla superchargers at the coming station at the Carson Event Center. Instead of exclusively catering to Tesla vehicles, the chargers will now accommodate all makes and models of electric vehicles.

The installation of 128 charging ports across 11 city-owned sites and four new EV charging stations to accommodate the future electric bus fleet.

Dear, 72, would prioritize public safety and local government transparency and accountability.

He has stressed the need for public-private partnerships to boost the city’s economic development and increasing law enforcement budgets.

“I am the only mayor candidate endorsed by the Los Angeles County Firefighters employee association,” he said in a Southern California News Group campaign questionnaire, “and the only mayor candidate endorsed by the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.”

He cited his past experience as mayor as a benefit should he be elected again.

His strategies for economic development, he said, include “letting the free-market forces bring us the high-quality housing developers and housing builders that we had when I was the mayor of Carson.”

Council District 3

In the race for the City Council District 3, incumbent Cedric Hicks appeared to be ahead of challenger Daniel Valdez, according to initial returns.

Hicks had nearly 76% of the vote, while Valdez had about 27%.

Hicks was appointed to the City Council on April 19, 2016, and has been reelected twice, first on Nov. 8, 2016, and again on Nov. 3, 2020, for the newly formed District 3.

Hicks has been a longtime community services director, helping the city snag the 2015 All-America City award for supportive resident programs. Before that, Hicks had managed Carson’s parks and recreation facilities for 15 years before accepting a job as Inglewood’s assistant city manager. He retired as the assistant city manager for Compton in 2016.

Valdez, 66, has served as a public works commissioner and planning commissioner, and is currently on the Mobile Home Park Rental Review Board in Carson.

He has said he was committed to engaging with developers to construct houses and condominiums up to five stories tall and would work to clear gang-related graffiti from the cement wall along Alameda Street.