Los Angeles Mayoral Election

The major candidates in the Los Angeles Mayoral Election set for March 8, 2005 (run-off May 17, 2005) are

• Current City Councilman and Former State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (www.antonio2005.com)
• Former State Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (www.changela.com)
• State Senator Richard Alarcon (www.alarconforla.com)
• Current City Councilman and Former Chief of Police Bernard Parks (www.bernardparks.com)
• Current Mayor James Hahn (www.jimhahn.org)

In the 2001 Mayoral Election to succeed Republican Richard Riordan, Villaraigosa was first in the first round (30%) ahead of Hahn (27%) and (Riordan's pick) Steve Soboroff (20%), but then lost to Hahn in the run-off 46.5%-53.5%. It was widely thought that Villaraigosa's loss was due to Hahn's support among African-Americans who were not ready for the first Latino Mayor.

Today I heard a debate among the challengers on one of my local NPR stations, KPCC 89.3 FM (Hahn seems to be limiting the number of candidate forums that he has--a smart move since debates put the incumbent on the same level as his opponents, which he doesn't want).

My general impressions were that Villaraigosa and Hertzberg did well, with Parks and Alarcon bringing up the rear. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Parks has had problems fundraising and had replaced his top advisors recently.

The Mayoral Race is a nominally a non-partisan race, though all the major candidates and the incumbent are all registered Democrats.

Party Registration in the City of Los Angeles

Democrats: 806,669 (56.3%);
Republicans: 293,325 (20.5%);
Decline to State: 264,379 (18.5%)

Today, the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee will be making its endorsement in the mayoral race. This is a crucial endorsement, particularly since Hahn has succeeded in denying Villaraigosa other endorsements (primarily Labor-related).