Updated at bottom

First posted at 8:54 pm.

The early vote-by-mail ballots are in, and Curren Price is leading Ana Cubas by 14 points.

As any school child knows, the only jobs that qualify you to sit on the Los Angeles city council are state legislator, city hall staffer or cop. So it's no surprise that the race for the fightin' 9th should come down to state Senator Price and city Councilman Jose Huizar's chief of staff, Cubas.

If Cubas wins, she'll enjoy the distinct privilege of being the only woman on city council, at least until things get sorted out in the District 6 special election.

And if Price wins, he'll be the only City Councilman ever to be named Curren. So either way, history will made.

Price enjoys strong financial backing from public employee unions and a host of industries, including billboard companies and healthcare interests, according to Dave Z. of the LA Times. They've spent over $1.1 million to elect Price and defeat Cubas, who's raised a healthy chunk of change herself, by the way, but enjoys no significant super PAC help.

Update, 9:50 pm Over 160,000 ballots have been cast city wide, a fairly large number. It could about a third of all votes, if the LA Times' prediction of 445,000 votes turns out to be correct.

Update, 10:40 pm With about 13 precincts reporting, Price's lead is down to 10 points.

Update, 11:37 pm The Price lead is down to about 7 points, with 36 precincts reporting. Hmmmmmm…..

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