# Los Angeles City Council, District 3 Compare records and positions simply between Timothy K. Gaspar or Barri Worth Girvan for Los Angeles City Council, District 3 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your neighborhood's seat on the Los Angeles City Council. The council has 15 members. - Jurisdiction: City of Los Angeles - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/la-council-3 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: October 6, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 84 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Timothy K. Gaspar** - **Barri Worth Girvan** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Timothy K. Gaspar led the June 2 primary with 46.08% and Barri Worth Girvan took 42.51%, a gap of 3.6 points that makes this one of the closer contests on this ballot. This is a nonpartisan office. The district covers the west San Fernando Valley. A Los Angeles city councilmember is one of just 15 people representing a city of roughly four million — each district holds about 260,000 residents, more than many members of Congress represent at the state level. The council controls land use and development approvals in the district, the city budget, and city departments including police and sanitation. Councilmembers have historically held near-veto power over projects in their own districts. This is a close, nonpartisan race between two candidates with no state or federal legislative record, so party and legislative history offer no guidance. What is documented is how each campaign was funded: both drew the majority of their money from individuals, and the leading candidate raised nearly twice as much. Weigh who you want holding the district-level control over development that this seat carries. ## Timothy K. Gaspar Timothy Gaspar, 44, is a self-described lifelong West Valley resident and small-business owner who says they "personally built a 65-person business from scratch" (Daily News questionnaire). They have not held elected office, and their campaign describes them as a "results first, no nonsense" candidate who would answer "to the neighborhoods and residents, not politics" (campaign site). In their Vote411 questionnaire they describe service on the boards of Discovery Cube Los Angeles, the Metropolitan YMCA of Los Angeles, the Woodland Hills and Warner Center Chamber of Commerce and the CSUN Nazarian School of Business. They also say they funded an entrepreneurship scholarship at CSUN. In May, a video surfaced online showing Gaspar questioning Girvan immediately after a candidate debate about her claims regarding Gaspar's ties to Councilmember John Lee, who was fined by the city's Ethics Commission over undisclosed gifts in a prior job. Girvan said the exchange happened after she believed "our debate microphones were off, and no one was paying attention to what we were saying" (Daily News). Gaspar said the exchange "happened publicly onstage" with a visible microphone and camera, and that its posting online was "an unfortunate error by a volunteer" that their campaign "immediately corrected" (Daily News). Gaspar's three stated priorities are public safety, homelessness and investing in young people, with small-business investment as an unofficial fourth. On safety, they say the city has fewer police officers and firefighters per capita than other major cities, and they describe a long wait for 911 and for police after a burglary at their own home. On homelessness, they would enforce anti-camping laws, contract only with service providers that have a track record of success at a manageable cost, and borrow from San Francisco and San Jose, including zero tolerance for public drug use. On youth, they say investment pays back 10 to 1 for each tax dollar, and they would start by making sure every household knows about programs such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club. Their campaign site adds a goal of "zero encampments" in the district and less regulation for small businesses. In their Daily News questionnaire they call for a fraud hotline and expanded authority for the city's ethics department to catch problems "before they have a chance to tarnish City Hall." **Strengths:** Built a 65-person firm and served on boards including Discovery Cube, the Metropolitan YMCA and a CSUN business school council, all by their own account. **Trade-offs:** No record in elected office, and a recorded post-debate exchange with their opponent that both campaigns describe differently. **Keep in mind:** Gaspar's business and board record is their own account in the questionnaire. They say releasing the recording online was a volunteer's mistake that they corrected. She says it was made without her knowledge. Local reporting carries both accounts. ## Barri Worth Girvan Barri Worth Girvan, 43, was born and raised in the West Valley and describes nearly two decades of public service (Daily News questionnaire). That includes an elected seat on the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, a 2016 delegate slot at the Democratic National Convention, a longtime Assembly District delegate role with the state party, and a recent appointment to the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments. In her Vote411 questionnaire she puts her service at more than 20 years, including senior positions at the city, state and county. Most recently she led community outreach for the county's Third District, where she says she helped secure an ethics reform package and played a leading role in fire recovery. She says she holds degrees from UC San Diego and USC. She has not held city elected office and works as a director of community affairs. Girvan said a recording of her post-debate exchange with Gaspar in May was made "without my knowledge or consent" after she believed "the debate had ended, microphones were off and the exchange was private" (Daily News). She had previously accused Gaspar of contributing to the legal defense fund of Councilmember John Lee, whom the city's Ethics Commission fined over undisclosed gifts; Gaspar disputed her account of the recording, saying it happened "publicly onstage" with visible equipment. Her three stated priorities are safe, clean neighborhoods with housing; economic vitality; and ethics and governance. On the first, she wants more multifamily housing near transit and jobs, including options for teachers, nurses and social-service staff, plus rebuilt LAPD staffing, faster response times and more unarmed crisis response. On the second, she points to job creation, workforce development and more predictable city processes for business. On the third, she wants proactive constituent service, independent oversight, stronger ethics rules and more transparency, building on the city's Measure G reforms. In her Daily News questionnaire she says housing should fit "the needs of our communities" and promises investment in sidewalks, streets and transit connections, along with a restructured Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. **Strengths:** More than 20 years in public service by her own account, including senior city, state and county roles, elected party posts and a regional council of governments appointment. **Trade-offs:** No record in elected office, and the same recorded exchange dispute, which she says was made without her consent. **Keep in mind:** Her roles and the funding and ethics results she credits herself with are her own account in the questionnaire. She has tied Gaspar to a former councilmember fined for ethics violations. He disputes how their exchange was recorded and shared. ## Financial info - **Timothy K. Gaspar** - Primary: $876,386 raised (Small donors: $6,703; Individuals: $537,253; PACs & committees: $28,750; Businesses & other orgs: $73,680; Self-funding: $41,000; Public matching funds: $189,000) - November: $180,626 raised (Individuals: $152,226; PACs & committees: $6,000; Businesses & other orgs: $21,400; Self-funding: $1,000) - **Barri Worth Girvan** - Primary: $484,133 raised (Small donors: $9,985; Individuals: $237,298; PACs & committees: $20,650; Businesses & other orgs: $27,200; Public matching funds: $189,000) - November: $31,988 raised (Individuals: $30,488; PACs & committees: $1,000; Businesses & other orgs: $500) Public matching funds are city money earned through small-donor support. Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026. Per Los Angeles City Ethics Commission campaign-finance data, retrieved 2026-09-21. Total is itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026, across each candidate's committees (primary and general, where filed separately). This dataset reflects periodic Form 460 statements, not the separate 24-hour large-contribution reports (Form 497) candidates file continuously — those can run well ahead of this total in the closing weeks before the election. Per Los Angeles City Ethics Commission campaign-finance data, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - Timothy Gaspar for LA City Council District 3 and Barri Worth Girvan for LA City Council District 3 may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [LA County RR/CC — Certified results, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-06-26)](https://results.lavote.gov/text-results/4338) 2. [LA City Clerk — 2026 General Municipal Election](https://clerk.lacity.gov/elections/municipal-elections) 3. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 4. [Daily News (SCNG) — Timothy Gaspar, Los Angeles City Council District 3 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire](https://www.dailynews.com/2026/05/04/timothy-gaspar-los-angeles-city-council-district-3-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 5. [Daily News (SCNG) — Barri Worth Girvan, Los Angeles City Council District 3 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire](https://www.dailynews.com/2026/05/04/barri-worth-girvan-los-angeles-city-council-district-3-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 6. [Daily News (SCNG) — Recorded post-debate exchange sparks controversy in City Council District 3 race](https://www.dailynews.com/2026/05/14/recorded-post-debate-exchange-sparks-controversy-in-city-council-district-3-race/) 7. [Timothy Gaspar for LA City Council District 3 — campaign site](https://timgaspar.com/) 8. [Barri Worth Girvan for LA City Council District 3 — campaign site](https://barriforthevalley.com) 9. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'Los Angeles City Council, District 3' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- top three priorities; qualifying background, experience and education. Both candidates, Timothy K. Gaspar and Barri Worth Girvan, responded. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/la-council-3.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote) 10. [LA City Ethics Commission — City campaign contributions (Form 460 filings)](https://data.lacity.org/resource/m6g2-gc6c) ## The rest of the ballot Los Angeles City Council, District 3 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Los Angeles City Council, District 3 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/la-council-3 (sources last retrieved October 6, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.