Thursday Morning Man: Mike Bonin!

A big congratulations to today’s Morning Man Mike Bonin who this week got himself elected to the Los Angeles City Council!

Mike is only the second openly gay man to be voted onto the 15-member council and he will be representing the city’s 11th district – the Westside.

He will succeed his boss, Bill Rosendahl, who made history in 2005 when he became the first openly gay man in history elected to the LA City Council. Bonin is Rosendahl’s longtime chief of staff and jumped into the race with his boss’s full endorsement. Rosendahl decided not to run for a third time so he could focus on his battle with cancer which is now in remission.

On his campaign website Wednesday, Mike described himself as ‘grateful, relieved and thrilled.’

His win was a decisive one as he garnered 17,566 votes or 61.19%. Candidates need to get more than 50% of the vote in order to avoid a May runoff.

‘Public service is an immense privilege, and representing our neighborhoods on the Los Angeles City Council is a tremendous honor,’ he said in a statement. ‘The grassroots power of our neighborhoods fueled this campaign, and it will keep me focused on improving quality of life, enhancing public safety, combating traffic, protecting the environment, creating jobs, and housing the homeless.’