INGLEWOOD — Former Santa Monica police chief James Butts edged out incumbent Inglewood Mayor Daniel Tabor in the special Jan. 11 mayoral election, according to election results released Thursday.
Butts had 55.6 percent, or 3,776 votes, to Tabor’s 44.3 percent, or 3,004 votes, official election results show.
Butts’ winning margin is about the same as it was before all the mail-in ballots were counted.
Tabor had been mayor since August, when he won a runoff election to fill out the term of former Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, who resigned in January 2010 after pleading guilty to a conflict-of-interest charge.
Dorn’s guilty plea came as prospective jurors were set to be questioned in his trial on charges stemming from his acceptance of a $500,000 loan through a city housing program.
Butts, who also put in a stint as head of security for Los Angeles World Airports, has a four-year term ahead of him.
Butts, 57, spent nearly 20 years as a Inglewood police officer before being hired in Santa Monica, where he served as chief for 15 years.
news@www.smdp.com
