Heather J. Hutt (born April 5, 1959) is an American politician who is currently serving as a

councilmember A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

representing the 10th District of Los Angeles since September 2, 2022. She was previously a candidate for California's 54th State Assembly district in 2021 and served as a California State Director for then-Senator

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

from 2019 to 2020.

Early political career

In 2011, Hutt was hired as a District Director for Assemblymember

Isadore Hall III Isadore Hall III (born December 10, 1971) is an American politician and a former member of the California State Senate. He is a Democrat who represented the 35th district, encompassing parts of the South Bay. Prior to being elected to the st ...

, which she continued following Hall's election to the California State Senate. In February 2017, Hutt was named the Regional Deputy Director for then-Senator

. On March 28, 2019, Harris announced new hires for senior roles, to which Hutt was hired as the California State Director. On February 1, 2022, Hutt announced that she would be running for California's 54th State Assembly district after it was vacated by Sydney Kamlager's election to the California State Senate. She was endorsed by politicians such as

Janice Hahn Janice Kay Hahn (born March 30, 1952) is an American politician serving as the member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from the 4th district since 2016 and Chair of Los Angeles County since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Yvonne Pearl Burke (née Watson, later Brathwaite; born October 5, 1932) is an American politician and lawyer from California. She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from ...

, and

Maxine Waters Maxine Moore Waters (née Carr; born August 15, 1938) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1991. The district, numbered as the 29th district from 1991 to 1993 and as the 35th district from 1993 to 2013, inc ...

. In the election, she was led by

Isaac Bryan Isaac G. Bryan (born January 16, 1992) is an American politician serving as the Majority Leader of the California State Assembly. He represents the 55th district, which includes much of South Central Los Angeles. Bryan was previously the executiv ...

in the initial count, and lost the special primary to Bryan on May 18, 2021.

Los Angeles City Council

In March 2022, Hutt was appointed by councilmember

Herb Wesson Herman J. "Herb" Wesson Jr. (born November 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as a City council, councilmember representing the Los Angeles City Council District 10, 10th District for three terms between July 1, 2005 and December 14, ...

to be his chief of staff for

District 10 District 10 may refer to: Places * District 10 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam * District 10 (Zürich), in Switzerland * District 10, an electoral district of Malta * District 10, a police district of Malta * District 10 School, a historic school in ...

after he fired the previous chief of staff and former caretaker of the district, Karly Katona. Hutt's appointment was historic as she is the first African American woman to serve as chief of staff since 1973, when

was chief deputy to David S. Cunningham Jr. In July 2022,

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...

Rob Bonta Robert Andres Bonta (born September 22, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the attorney general of California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the California State Assembly for ...

granted activists against Wesson's appointment to sue, and Wesson was blocked from serving as councilmember; Council President

Nury Martinez Nury Martinez (born July 9, 1973) is a Mexican-American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 6th district from 2013 until her resignation in 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Martinez became president ...

appointed Hutt as a caretaker of the district. After a month of no representation, residents of District 10 asked for voting privileges for Hutt to give them a voice in the City Council. On August 26, 2022, Martinez introduced a motion to appoint Hutt as a councilmember, which was seconded by four other members. The motion was opposed by

Marqueece Harris-Dawson Marqueece Harris-Dawson (born November 7, 1970) is an American politician, who currently represents the 8th district of the Los Angeles City Council since 2015. Early life and education Harris-Dawson was born and raised in South Central Los An ...

and

Mike Bonin Michael Bonin (born March 19, 1967) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 11th district from 2013 to 2022. A progressive member of the Democratic Party, he was previously a reporter and a cou ...

, who instead proposed instructing the City Attorney to find eligibility requirements for appointments. On August 30, the vote to instate Hutt as a councilmember fell one vote short, with five voting for and five voting against; it was refereed to the Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee for further discussion. The Committee cleared her for reconsideration by the Council the next day, and Hutt was confirmed by the Council in the next meeting and sworn in on September 2, 2022.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutt, Heather Los Angeles City Council members African-American city council members in California California Democrats 1959 births People from South Los Angeles Politicians from Los Angeles 21st-century African-American politicians Living people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American women in politics