Los Angeles's 15th City Council district
Councilmember	Tim McOsker D–San Pedro since December 12, 2022
Demographics	18.5% White 11.5% Black 60.7% Hispanic 5.9% Asian 0.8% Other
Population (2022)	258,310
Registered voters (2017)	123,866
Website	cd15.lacity.gov

Los Angeles's 15th City Council district is one of the fifteen districts in theLos Angeles City Council. It is currently represented byDemocratTim McOsker since 2022, after previous memberJoe Buscaino retired to run formayor that year.^[1]

The district was created in 1925 after a new city charter was passed, which replaced the former"at large" voting system for a nine-member council with adistrict system with a 15-member council. Not only geographically, but also representationally the district has been one of the most stable. There have been only eleven council members since 1925 and none have served fewer than four years. The thirty-year incumbency ofJohn S. Gibson Jr. was the third-longest of any Los Angeles City Council member, afterErnani Bernardi of the7th District andJohn Ferraro of the4th District.^[2]

The district mostly been represented only by residents ofSan Pedro, which has outside influence as the district's traditional base of political power. Eight of the eleven councilmembers who have represented the district have come from San Pedro.^[3]

The 15th district encompasses all of the city's southern area and thePort of Los Angeles, which includes the communities and neighborhoods ofHarbor City,Harbor Gateway,San Pedro,Watts, andWilmington.^[4]

The district overlaps with California's43rd and44th congressional districts. It also overlaps withCalifornia's 35th State Senate district and a part of the State Senate's30th district, as well as California's64th,66th, and70th State Assembly districts.

The historical boundaries does not differ from the modern boundaries, with the main difference being the northern border. At its creation, it was atSlauson Avenue,^[5][6] before moving down toManchester Avenue in 1928.^[7] In 1933, the major eastern boundaries of the shoestring areFigueroa Street andNormandie Avenue and western limits areWestern andVermont avenues,^[8] before some parts ofSouth Broadway being absorbed inDistrict 8 by 1935.^[9] In 1986, the boundary moved south, but district still included part of theWatts area.^[10] In 2011, it was now south ofCentury Boulevard on the west edge of theShoestring, north of the boulevard to the east.

In 2017, theLos Angeles Times editorial board criticized the geographical makeup of the district, and argued that it resulted in lack of representation for communities like Watts and Harbor Gateway. The editorial argued that the district's representative,Joe Buscaino, was being re-elected exclusively by the people of San Pedro, meaning that Buscaino is beholden only to this small community.^[11]

Councilmember	Party	Dates	Electoral history
District established July 1, 1925
Charles J. Colden (San Pedro)	Democratic	July 1, 1925 – June 30, 1929	Elected in 1925. Re-elected in 1927. Retired to run forMayor of Los Angeles.
A. E. Henning (San Pedro)	Republican	July 1, 1929 – June 30, 1933	Elected in 1929. Re-elected in 1931. Lost re-election.
Franklin P. Buyer (Broadway-Manchester)	Democratic	July 1, 1933 – June 30, 1939	Elected in 1933. Re-elected in 1935. Re-elected in 1937. Lost re-election.
Wilder W. Hartley (Wilmington)	Republican	July 1, 1939 – June 30, 1943	Elected in 1939. Re-elected in 1941. Lost re-election.
George H. Moore (Wilmington)	Democratic	July 1, 1943 – June 30, 1951	Elected in 1943. Re-elected in 1945. Re-elected in 1947. Re-elected in 1949. Lost re-election.
John S. Gibson Jr. (San Pedro)	Democratic	July 1, 1951 – June 30, 1981	Elected in 1951. Re-elected in 1953. Re-elected in 1957. Re-elected in 1961. Re-elected in 1965. Re-elected in 1969. Re-elected in 1973. Re-elected in 1977. Retired.
Joan M. Flores (San Pedro)	Republican	July 1, 1981 – June 30, 1993	Elected in 1981. Re-elected in 1987. Re-elected in 1989. Lost re-election.
Rudy Svorinich (San Pedro)	Republican	July 1, 1993 – June 30, 2001	Elected in 1993. Re-elected in 1997. Retired due to term limits.
Janice Hahn (San Pedro)	Democratic	July 1, 2001 – June 12, 2011	Elected in 2001. Re-elected in 2005. Re-elected in 2009. Resigned when elected to theU.S. House of Representatives.[12]
Vacant		June 12, 2011 – January 17, 2012
Joe Buscaino (San Pedro)	Democratic	January 17, 2012 – December 12, 2022	Elected to finish Hahn's term. Re-elected in 2013. Re-elected in 2017. Retired to run forMayor of Los Angeles.[1]
Tim McOsker (San Pedro)	Democratic	December 12, 2022 – present	Elected in 2022.

Access to mostLos Angeles Times links requires the use of a library card.

• OfficialCity Council District 15 website

• Los Angeles City Council districts
• Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles
• San Pedro, Los Angeles
• Wilmington, Los Angeles

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023