LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Los Angeles voters appeared Tuesday to mostly ignore the contest to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, after a low-profile campaign in which no issue or candidate commanded wide attention.

Turnout at polling places was sparse. Only about 22 percent of 660,000 mail-in ballots had been returned by Tuesday morning, and campaign strategists doubted that more than one-in-four of the city's 1.8 million voters would cast ballots.

The five leading candidates in the nonpartisan contest made last-minute appeals during stops around the city, while unionized workers and other campaign volunteers tried to get voters to shake off indifference and go to the polls.

``I need you to vote, and then go encourage your friends and family to vote, too,'' city Controller Wendy Greuel, who could become the city's first woman mayor, pleaded with supporters in an email.

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