McLaughlin, Fagen, Torres win

Republican incumbent John McLaughlin and Democratic newcomers Mike Fagen and Len Torres racked up the most votes for three open seats in the Long Beach City Council election on Tuesday.

McLaughlin had the highest vote total, 3,651, while Fagen garnered 3,599 and Torres collected 3,527 in the at-large election. McLaughlin and Fagen captured four-year seats, and Torres won a two-year term. Democrat Fran Adelson received 3,507 votes, while two first-time Republican candidates, Maureen Doherty and Marvin Weiss, had 3,475 and 3,405, respectively.

In the race for city court judge, Republican Frank Dikranis defeated Democrat Scott Nigro, 3,801 to 3,440. Dikranis, a former assistant county district attorney, will replace Judge Stanley Smolkin, who will retire at year’s end.

With McLaughlin’s victory, the Republicans retain a 3-2 majority on the council, which includes Thomas Sofield Jr. and Mona Goodman, with Democrats Denise Tangney and Lenny Remo stepping down. While both sides ran as teams, the Democrats, especially, emphasized unity because they needed all three candidates to win in order to take back control of the council, which they lost in 2007, when McLaughlin was first elected to a two-year term.

In an election that centered on taxes and parking issues, McLaughlin campaigned on a pledge to further reduce taxes three years after a Democratically controlled council hiked taxes 25 percent, and to continue moving more part-time city employees to full-time status. He also vowed to hire a storm management consultant to work on coastal engineering and boardwalk reconstruction.

“I want to continue ... doing what we're doing, keeping our government bipartisan,” McLaughlin said at Republican headquarters at Lola’s restaurant on West Park Avenue. “And the coalition is intact — we're pretty happy about that. I think people believed me and believed in what I was doing, and they didn't fall for the dirty politics.”