Culver City Election Update: Puza and Stehlin Remain Ahead; Small Moves into Third

CULVER CITY — NOVEMBER 5, 2026. Newer preliminary vote totals show Freddy Puza and Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin holding the first two positions in the two-seat Culver City Council election. A November 5 update from Culver City Crossroads reports Puza at 7,596 votes and Stehlin at 6,043.

Third and fourth positions shift

Thomas Aujero Small moved into third place with 5,254 votes, followed by Kimberley Griffin at 5,187, a gap of 67 votes. Franklin Carvajal was fifth with 1,022. Only the top two candidates are competing for the two available positions; the gap between third and fourth does not determine the second seat, which Stehlin leads in the published snapshot.

Why this differs from earlier reports

California58 previously reported an earlier stage of the city vote. In Wednesday morning’s count, Puza had 6,436 and Stehlin had 5,289. The November 5 report reflects additional ballots and therefore must not be presented as an election-night count.

School board contests are separate

The same local report lists Stephanie Loredo, Brian Guerrero and Triston Ezidore leading the school board race. School board votes cannot be added to City Council totals. While local news outlets describe likely officeholders, California58 distinguishes these expectations from formal certification by election officials.

Sources: Culver City Crossroads, November 5 update; November 4 comparison; Los Angeles County Elections. All figures are unofficial.

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