Stack of Perry signs against the wall. (Michael Juliani / Neon Tommy)

Semi-pro skateboarder Aaron Sanderson, 23, a tall brown-haired guy sipping a mixed drink, took the bus to get to Jan Perry's election night party at Mercado La Paloma, a community marketplace on S. Grand by the USC campus.

Sanderson said he's been wearing Jan Perry shirts while he rides in local skateboard plazas that Perry has helped set up. He gave Perry campaign signs to local businesses and passed extra t-shirts along to fellow skaters.

He said he and his friends were sick of getting arrested and ticketed for doing something harmless like skateboarding on public property. He voted for Jan Perry (the sticker on his lapel provided proof) because he said she understands this kind of thing.

Sanderson was standing in a crowd of sixty or so supporters and media cameramen who came to close out Perry's disappointing campaign. While early returns appeared on a big screen, showing predictably poor numbers for Perry, the supporters cheered for Perry as she arrived at about nine o'clock.

Councilmember Bernard Parks was there. An older man ran up to him and thanked him "for keeping an eye on the police chief."

Perry's supporters were aware of the grim outlook, bemoaning what they said was a fundraising race to the finish, with frontrunners Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel serving big economic interests. Perry's campaign was plagued by low funds and didn't stand a chance, despite what her supporters said is her community-level focus, a focus on the little man.

According to Eva Behrend, who usually functions as Perry's communications director in her Council office, Perry chose Mercado La Paloma for her election night party because it's a "small business incubator" that helps non-profits and start-up restaurants get oriented.

"It's a place that's representative of the people who support her and the kind of campaign she wants to run," Behrend said.

Perry told her cheering crowd that she didn't want to thank them, because she would be going around and hugging each of them throughout the long night ahead.

Perry addresses her cheering crowd:

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the LA election here.

Reach Senior News Editor Michael Juliani here.