Mark Ridley-Thomas

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Mark Ridley-Thomas

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District 2

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Los Angeles City Council District 10

Predecessor: Herb Wesson Jr.

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Mark Ridley-Thomas was a member of the Los Angeles City Council in California, representing District 10. Ridley-Thomas assumed office on December 14, 2020. Ridley-Thomas left office on March 30, 2023.

Ridley-Thomas ran for election to the Los Angeles City Council to represent District 10 in California. Ridley-Thomas won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Elections

2020

See also: City elections in Los Angeles, California (2020)

General election

General election for Los Angeles City Council District 10

Mark Ridley-Thomas defeated Grace Yoo in the general election for Los Angeles City Council District 10 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Ridley-Thomas (Nonpartisan)	60.6	56,119
		Grace Yoo (Nonpartisan)	39.4	36,485

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 92,604
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Los Angeles City Council District 10

Mark Ridley-Thomas and Grace Yoo defeated Aura Vásquez, Melvin Snell, and Channing Martinez in the primary for Los Angeles City Council District 10 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Ridley-Thomas (Nonpartisan)	44.3	21,062
✔		Grace Yoo (Nonpartisan)	23.6	11,220
		Aura Vásquez (Nonpartisan)	21.0	9,996
		Melvin Snell (Nonpartisan)	6.1	2,883
		Channing Martinez (Nonpartisan)	5.0	2,369

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,530
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles County, California (2016)

Los Angeles County held elections for county commission, district attorney, and special districts in 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on July 7, 2016. The candidate filing deadline for this election was on March 11, 2016. Incumbent Mark Ridley-Thomas ran unopposed in the Los Angeles County board of supervisors, District 2 primary election.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, District 2 Primary Election, 2016
Candidate
Mark Ridley-Thomas Incumbent

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mark Ridley-Thomas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events

Indictment on federal corruption charges (2021)

See also: Noteworthy criminal misconduct in American politics (2021-2022)

On October 13, 2021, Ridley-Thomas was indicted on federal corruption charges alleging that he took part in a bribery scheme with the former dean of the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Social Work. The charges alleged that Ridley-Thomas supported contracts involving USC's School of Social Work in exchange for favors granted to his son, including graduate school admission, a full-tuition scholarship, and a paid professorship. The indictment also alleged that Ridley-Thomas gave $100,000 in campaign funds to the university then to a nonprofit operated by Ridley-Thomas' son.

On October 18, 2021, Ridley-Thomas announced that he would immediately step back from participating in city council meetings and committees but would not resign. In a letter to fellow council members, Ridley-Thomas said he planned to fight the “outrageous allegations” and resume participation on the council “at the earliest appropriate time.”

The Los Angeles City Council voted on October 20, 2021, to suspend Ridley-Thomas from his position. Ridley-Thomas pleaded not guilty to the charges on the same day.

On December 9, 2021, a federal judge ruled that Ridley-Thomas' trial would begin on August 9, 2022. It was later moved to November 2022, and moved a second time to March 2023.

On March 30, 2023, a jury found Ridley-Thomas guilty of federal corruption charges. The jury found him guilty of seven counts: conspiracy, bribery, honest services mail fraud, and four counts of honest services wire fraud.

On August 28, 2023, Ridley-Thomas was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison, received a $30,000 fine, and will be subject to three years of supervised release.

See also

2020 Elections

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Herb Wesson Jr.	Los Angeles City Council District 10 2020-2023	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District 2 2008-2020	Succeeded by -