In the California Assembly District 39 race, longtime political aide Raul Bocanegra has won in a landslide over L.A. City Councilman Richard Alarcon — a one-time political force in the northeast San Fernando Valley. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Bocanegra won 58.5 percent of the vote to Alarcon's 41.5.

Alarcon has been mired in scandal — he faces 17 felony counts of perjury and voter fraud for allegedly living outside his L.A. City Council district.

Bocanegra has never held office before, but he's served as an aide to one-time L.A. City Council President Alex Padilla and Richard Alarcon, and, most recently, he worked for Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes as his chief of staff.

The Assembly District 39 race was expected to be close, but Bocanegra wiped out Alarcon on election night.

Alarcon, who will soon be termed out of his L.A. City Council office and will stand trial for his felony charges, may soon be facing the end of his political career.

Bocanegra had the backing of the state and local Democratic party establishment. The big question now is will Bocanegra be a different kind of politician or be just another political hack — his former boss, Fuentes, is often considered the worst legislator in California.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.