Imelda Padilla led rival Marisa Alcaraz in early results Tuesday evening in the special election for the Los Angeles City Council seat representing the northeastern and central San Fernando Valley, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder.

Alcaraz, a top adviser to City Councilman Curren Price, and Padilla, a community advocate, are vying for the Council District 6 seat formerly held by City Council President Nury Martinez, who stepped down last year.

Martinez stepped down from the council in October after a leaked recording surfaced of her making inflammatory comments about her colleagues and various groups, paving the way for a special election.

Just before polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, a steady stream of voters poured into a Panorama City Goodwill office to mark their ballots.

Voter pedestrian traffic had been sluggish in the morning but picked up a bit in the afternoon as people came home from work, an election official said.

He estimated about 150 people voted in the Goodwills community room that day, a smaller turnout than he expected, he said.

Not many people know there’s an election, said Jasmine Lemus, a 34-year-old dressed in a T-shirt, jeans and sunflower-covered Vans plaid shoes.

The Arleta native was called to vote after he finished working at a local nonprofit. But she failed to convince her husband to vote with her. He felt like his vote wouldn’t make a difference, she said.

Lemus intended to vote for Padilla, she said, because she had heard good things about her.

She is very involved with the organizations and community and wants to improve everything that is going on with our homeless community, Lemus said. I hope the best for her.

Overall, Lemus didn’t think city hall policymakers paid enough attention to her corner of the northeastern San Fernando Valley.

We have more homelessness here, we have more family problems, we have so many more businesses closing, Lemus said as a handful of other voters went out in front of her.

Unions, including those whose members did business before the city council spent a lot of money on the race.

The Southwest Mountain States Regional Council of Carpenters has spent more than $270,000 to support Alcaraz. IBEW Local Union 18, representing the workers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, spent more than $100,000 in support.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, the union representing city firefighters, spent nearly $200,000 to support Padilla. A group supported by the California Apartment Assn. and the American Beverage Assn. spent over $219,000 to support Padilla. Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 300, donated more than $200,000 to support Padilla.