Los Angeles city elections

Latest

LOS ANGELES — The campaigning for the L.A. City Mayor and a number of other offices and Propositions is over. Now that the dust has settled, we find that Los Angeles City Councilman, Eric Garcetti has clearly won over his opponent, City Controller, Wendy Gruel.
Despite the bloated support of ex-President Bill Clinton, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and the former Mayor Riodan, Gruel managed to lose. Part of the voter anger was directed against the Boss Tweed kind of union leadership at the Department of Water and Power, which controls both the Mayor’s office and City Council—a union that has never displayed any working class solidarity with the other city unions or other labor struggles in Los Angeles.
One outstanding victory of the L.A. Unified School Board race was that of Monica Radcliff a genuine teacher and lawyer over corporatist Antonio Sanchez, protégé of Mayor Villaraigosa who is leaving office with the city in tremendous debt.
Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg, billionaire Koch Brothers and a host of big business and others put millions into Sanchez’s campaign while only volunteers from the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) put the foot-work and effort into the race for Monica. UTLA endorsed both candidates and were warned by State Teacher’s leaders in Sacramento that failure to support Sanchez would bring about a series of bills to weaken teachers unions and seniority. Therefore UTLA could not donate any money to the campaign.
Los Angeles also passed an advisory vote against the Citizens United Supreme Court decision-Prop C and other measures regarding the marijuana industry.
Another important victory was in the Los Angeles Community College District race—former Green and environmentalist Nancy Pearlman emerged the victor despite the AFT and Democratic Party supporting her opponent with millions of dollars.
Finally, despite the low turnout in the Primary, it stands as a record that—out of 4 million people in Los Angeles—only 200,000 bothered to vote. This reflects that voters were turned off by slick flyers, TV ads, etc. It must be said that elections don’t prove there is Democracy—Democracy would have campaign finance reform, Ranked voting, and proportional representation. Also, in California a draconian bill, Proposition 14 passed, which only allows the most heavily financed candidates to proceed to the General Election—surprise! That leaves out the third parties. This is a dictatorship of the two-party system.

+ Articles by this author

The People’s Tribune opens its pages to voices of the movement for change. Our articles are written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Articles entitled “From the Editors” reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: peoplestribune.orgPlease donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement for change. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff. The People’s Tribune is a 501C4 organization.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Fragile Ceasefire Victory and the Role of the Global Movement

In 2024, 125 nations of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister. This and countless other unprecedented acts of resistance took place against a “war” that revealed itself daily as outright genocide. The world’s people expressed their common humanity through actions and voices...sustaining this epic unity for the battles that lie ahead is critical for real peace..."

“No Kings” Protests Set to Sweep US Even as Trump Increases Attacks on Activists

Republicans are already smearing the protesters, but their intimidation tactics are out of touch with reality.

ICE Fears Put Pregnant Immigrants and Their Babies at Risk

Fear of deportation is deterring people without permanent legal status from critical care. Doctors are worried for the health of pregnant immigrants, and the health of their pregnancies. This story was originally reported by 19thnews.org.

Government Shutdown and the Blame Game

Using a bold-faced lie President Trump and Vice President Vance blamed immigrants, particularly the undocumented, for the government shutdown now in effect throughout the country. The Republican plan would increase Obamacare payments and make Medicaid cuts.

Emmy-Winning Journalist Deported After Reporting on Anti-Trump Protest

Emmy award-winning journalist Mario Guevara was deported to El Salvador – a country he fled over 20 years ago — in retaliation for filming law enforcement activities, says the Committee to Protect Journalists.

More from the People's Tribune