The special election for the 33rd state Senate District seat, left vacant when incumbent Ricardo Lara was elected state insurance commissioner in November, is scheduled to take place this Tuesday, March 26.

While 12 names will be on the ballot, only 11 candidates are seeking to fill the Senate seat.

Three Long Beach council members initially intended to run, but Councilman Roberto Uranga ended his campaign in favor of supporting his colleague Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez. Councilman Al Austin also dropped from the race but his name will still appear on the ballot.

The following candidates will appear on the ballot:

Chris Garcia

Jack M. Guerrero

Lena Gonzalez

Ana Maria Quintana

Cesar Flores

Martha Flores Gibson

Al Austin II

Leticia Vasquez Wilson

Thomas Jefferson Cares

Ali Saleh

Jose Luis Solache

Denise Diaz

The district includes the cities and communities of Cudahy, Bell, Bell Gardens, Lynwood, Maywood, Signal Hill, Paramount, South Gate, Vernon, Walnut Park, Huntington Park and nearly 80 percent of Long Beach, over 36 percent of Lakewood and portions of Los Angeles for a population total of nearly 927,000, according to 2010 Census data.

A majority of the residents (over 648,000) identify as Hispanic, according to the Census, with many being first-generation immigrants. They also tend to be low-income and with lower high school graduation rates compared to other parts of the county.

Many of these communities are situated along the Long Beach (710) Freeway and are negatively impacted by air pollution and associated risks.

Nine candidates answered questions posed by the Post regarding their support for a proposed expansion of the freeway. Their answers can be found here.

In addition, presumed front-runner Gonzalez has been under fire by constituents after it was reported that she was arrested for driving drunk in 2012 and that more than $1 million has been spent in support of her campaign by an independent coalition funded primarily by oil corporations.

Vasquez Wilson also made headlines when she sent letters to five Long Beach council members, including Gonzalez, and Mayor Robert Garcia, warning of defamation lawsuits. Vasquez Wilson later addressed this during a public forum where she said she was defending herself against “fake news.”

There are 427,774 registered voters, with 195,320 of them being Vote By Mail voters, according to the county’s Registrar/Recorder office.

Registered voters will have 182 polling places to cast their ballots. Visit lavote.net to confirm locations as some constituents have noticed a change in their polling location.

County Registrar-Recorder officials said polling places are consolidated for special elections.

“For example, for major elections, voter allocations are approximately 1,000 voters per precinct where for special elections voter allocations are approximately 2,000 voters per precinct,” said Registrar-Recorder spokesman Mike Sanchez.

In other cases, boundary lines changed for certain precincts for this election, Sanchez said.

Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote a run-off will be held June 4.

Editor’s note: This story was updated with comments from the county’s Registrar-Recorder office.