Former Mayor John Duran Holds a 93-Vote Edge for West Hollywood Council

Chelsea Byers and Helen Krieger lead the 14-candidate field, while Kyle Brazeal and Stephen Post sit within 145 votes of Duran.

Former West Hollywood Mayor John Duran was up 11 votes on Kyle Brazeal Tuesday night, down six by the next count, then back in front.

In Wednesday afternoon's update from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, Duran held the last of three open City Council seats with 3,488 votes, WEHO Times reported Thursday. Councilmember Chelsea Byers led the 14-candidate field with 5,162 votes. Helen Krieger was second with 4,460.

The race for third has a third man in it. Brazeal trailed Duran by 93 votes and Stephen Post was 145 back, WEHOonline reported. In the afternoon count, Post added 341 votes. Duran added 218 and Brazeal 207.

Post's gap has shrunk in each of the last two updates, from 406 votes to 268 to 145, by WEHOonline's tally. Nobody has been declared the winner. The county still has mail, provisional and same-day registration ballots to count in a city with 26,773 registered voters.

Duran says he's seen counts like this before. "I have been through this process before where daily vote counts alter results," he told the Beverly Press. "I will be patient along with everyone else until the final results are in."

The council is about to turn over either way. Should the standings hold, Mayor John Heilman and Councilmember Lauren Meister, both out when their terms run out in December, would hand their seats to Krieger and Duran, and Byers would stay put, according to the Beverly Press. Krieger told the Beverly Press that voters want "more affordability, safe streets without sacrificing our privacy, and help for our local businesses."

The county's certification is tentatively set for Nov. 27, and the three winners are scheduled to take the oath at the council's Dec. 7 meeting, according to WEHO Times. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day still count if they arrive in time, the Beverly Press noted.

At the top, Byers leads fourth place by 1,767 votes and Krieger leads it by 1,065. The third seat has already changed hands twice, and the man in fifth keeps gaining on it.

Source: wehotimes.com, retrieved November 5, 2026. Other sources: wehoonline.com, beverlypress.com, wehotimes.com (2).