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The Los Angeles City Clerk this morning finished its signature verification process on nominating petitions. (James T. Law was the last candidate to be checked -- his petitions had an insufficient number of valid signatures, bumping him from the competition.)

Eleven candidates will appear on the Nov. 8 special election ballot. If no one receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held in January.

The race (which is nonpartisan) is to fill the Harbor-to-Watts seat on the L.A. City Council that was left vacant when Janice Hahn won election to Congress this summer.

The candidates (in the order they will appear on the primary ballot):

1. Frank Pereyda
2. Jayme Wilson
3. Gordon Teuber
4. Joe Buscaiono
5. Justin I. Brimmer 
6. Rebecca Chambliss
7. Pat McOsker
8. Warren Furutani
9. M. "Candice" Graham
10. Rudy Svorinich Jr.
11. John. M. Delgado Jr.

We're still waiting for the Los Angeles City Clerk to verify petition signatures on four remaining candidates (the Clerk's Office has until Sept. 22, but everyone's hoping they'll be able to wrap it up by the end of the day Friday). 

We still have a little bit of news for you, though.

City officials today conducted the random drawing that determines the order in which candidates will appear on the Nov. 8 special election ballot. (The order is determined by holding a random drawing of the letters of the alphabet.)

So here it is (the four candidates still awaiting verification are in parentheses):

1. (James T. Law)
2. Frank Pereyda
3. Jayme Wilson
4. Gordon Teuber
5. Justin I. Brimmer
6. Joe Buscaino
7. Rebecca Chambliss
8. Pat McOsker
9. (Kambiz "Mostofi" Mostofizadeh)
10. (Robert Farrell)
11. Warren Furutani
12. (M. "Candice" Graham)
13. Rudy Svorinich Jr.
14. John M. Delgado Jr.
    

The latest candidates to qualify for the Nov. 8 special election in Los Angeles City Council District 15 are Justin Brimmer and Frank Pereyda.

Already qualifying are Joe Buscaino, Rebecca Chambliss, John Delgado Jr., Assemblyman Warren Furutani, Pat McOsker, Gordon Teuber, Rudy Svorinich Jr. and Jayme Wilson.

Still awaiting signature verifications are Robert Farrell, M. "Candice" Graham, James Law and Kambiz "Mostofi" Mostofizadeh.

****8 p.m.: Ok, so this is where it stands:

Jayme Wilson qualified for the ballot today in the Nov. 8 special election race to represent the Harbor-to-Watts district on the Los Angeles City Council.

Joe Buscaino and Pat McOsker also have been qualified for the ballot after the City Clerk's office verified their respective 500 nominating petition signatures.

Candidate Rebecca Chambliss also turned in her petitions earlier this week but was found to be 53 signatures short in the verification process. She's picked up supplemental petitions and will be attempting to make up the difference before Monday's 5 p.m. deadline.

That leaves 16 candidates who filed paperwork to run who are still busy putting their petition signatures together. Many will likely be turned in Friday to allow for some wiggle room in case they, too, come up short. We'll keep you posted. We're anticipating having a final ballot list by Tuesday or Wednesday next week at the latest.

Rudy Svorninich Jr. became the fourth candidate for District 15 on the Los Angeles City Council to report raising $50,000.

Also reaching that benchmark in earlier report filings with the city Ethics Commission were Pat McOsker, Joe Buscaino and Warren Furutani.

The special election to fill the seat vacated by Janice Hahn when she won her congressional bid in July is Nov. 8.

That was fast.

Of the 20 candidates who have filed to run for the vacant 15th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, Joe Buscaino has become the first to officially qualify for the ballot today.

He turned in his petition signatures on Saturday and getting word today that the signatures had been verified by the City Clerk's Office.

Candidates have until Sept. 12 to turn in their nominating petitions. If they pay a $300 filing fee, they must turn in 500 signatures (which is what Buscaino did).

If they want to skip paying the fee they must submit 1,000 voter signatures.

If you live in San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City or Harbor Gateway, you'll no doubt encounter a few of their volunteers with clipboards over the next couple weeks. Voters can sign petitions for more than one candidate. But they can only sign each candidate's petition once.

On the first day of filing for the open Los Angeles City Council's 15th District seat, 13 candidates filed a Declaration of Intention to run.

An additional four candidates appeared today. bringing the total so far to 17.

Filing ends at noon Saturday.

The candidates (with their self-designated occupations) who already have taken out paperwork with the City Clerk's Election Division to formally run (listed in order in which they filed) are:

• Warren Furutani (California State Assemblyman)
• Pat McOsker (Firefighter/first Responder)
• Rebecca Chambliss (Realtor)
• Joe Buscaino (Los Angeles Police Officer)
• Frank Pereyda (Local Businessman)
• Kambiz "Mostofi" Mostofizadeh (Community Activist)
• Rudy Svorinich Jr. (Samll Business Owner)
• Jayme Wilson (Businessman/Community Leader)
• DeWayne Merrill Stark (Retired Businessman)
• Mark Anthony Contreras (Laborer/Youth Advocate)
• Timothy "Dream" Weaver (Actor/Director)
• M. "Candice" Graham (Community Activist/Businesswoman)
• James T. Law (Minister/Disability Advocate)
• Emery D. Soos (Businessman)
• Justin I. Brimmer (Los Angeles Legislative Deputy)
• Gordon Teuber (Councilmember's Economic Director)
• John M. Delgado Jr. (Businessman)
  

Candidates (and there will likely be more of them as the week progresses) still must turn in petition signatures by Sept. 12 in order to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot.

Soos and Weaver are new names we've not seen prior to Monday's formal opening of filing.

Delgado, active in San Pedro's Neighborhood Councils, has indicated in the past he might consider running for the seat in the future, but he hadn't yet surfaced in the latest round of prospects.

Another woman -- Candice Graham of Wilmington -- has announced her intent to run for the vacant 15th District City Council seat in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Ken Melendez is announcing today that he won't be running for the seat but will endorse one of the other contenders, with that announcement coming probably on Friday.

According to the city Ethics Commission, Graham filed her intent to raise funds on Tuesday, a day after Rebecca Chambliss, who became the first woman to declare for the race on Monday.

In other campaign news, Assemblyman Warren Furutani has become the third candidate -- following Pat McOsker and Joe Buscaino -- to report raising an initial $50,000 for the race.

Graham, who describes herself as a businesswoman, lists a number of past positions on her resume, including working as a secretary for the state of California and "collaborating" on "crime fighting efforts with the LAPD, Harbor and Rampart."

And clearly setting her apart from the rest of the field are these past roles listed in her email to the Daily Breeze:

• Former actress/model
• Child radio personality
• Former jet setter

So: That keeps the tentative field still at 17, based on the list of names on the city's Ethics Commission site as of mid-day today (candidates must file paperwork with that department in order to raise funds).

But candidates still need to go through the formal filing process, which includes collecting between 500 and 1,000 voter signatures on nominating petitions -- the number is dependent upon whether they want to also pony up a $300 filing fee -- by Sept. 12.

Candidates must file a Declaration of Intention to run with the city between Aug. 22-27.

Rebecca Chambliss today tweeted that she'll be joining the expanding field of candidates for the 15th Council District. She's the only woman announcing a run for the seat so far.

Meanwhile, Mark Contreras also has appeared on the city's Ethics list of candidates intending to raise money for the seat that was vacated by Janice Hahn when she was elected to Congress in July.

Bringing the total to .... 17.

While a few candidates can be expected to drop out by the time the Aug. 22-27 formal filing period arrives, this is shaping up to be a very crowded election. The top two vote getters in the Nov. 8 primary will face off in a January runoff.

The seat is nonpartisan.

Chambliss works in real estate -- you can follow her on Twitter and check out her bio on her website here.

Contreras has launched a website for his council run.