2017 Los Angeles Elections (Today)

[Mike Thick]

Better late than never.

Eric Garcetti is the far-and-away favorite for another term as Mayor. Activist Mitchell Schwartz is chief among his challengers, but that's a pretty low bar. If Garcetti somehow doesn't avoid a runoff, there might be trouble, but I expect him to easily clear 50% in the first round.

Measure S is a ballot initiative targeting developers, that would put a two-year moratorium on projects affecting the city's general plan and permanently ban such projects on sites smaller than 15 acres. I get the feeling that this could go either way -- it reflects the pretty bad blood between Angelenos and developers, but a bunch of politicos have come out against it, including Garcetti. Definitely one to watch.

A lot of stuff is happening in the council races. Paul Koretz, a two-term incumbent from Westside, is facing a challenge from a young attorney named Jesse Creed. Although Creed doesn't come close to St. Sanders, he seems quite progressive, and is a prodigious fundraiser. I'm going to be watching this pretty closely -- probably not a terrific barometer of liberal enthusiasm given the overlap between the two candidates (and the act that toppling incumbent City Councilmembers is so tough), but interesting nonetheless.

More races in the LA Times's comprehensive guide.

[Mike Thick]

I prefer better never than late

Meh. Those who simply must have their fix of regular elections can use this to hold them over until the specials/Gubernatorials/etc.

If this was for the Mayor or New York or even Chicago there would be so much more coverage of it in the media, even if it was as uncompetitive as this race is.

I'd have to agree, yeah. It's a little disappointing.

[Mike Thick]

Is it true Garcetti is eyeing Gov once he has his reelection behind him?

Maybe. He's widely seen as having aspirations for higher office, but the Governor's race is already well underway, and I imagine that he would be at a pretty significant fundraising disadvantage by the time he entered. Villaraigosa running probably makes it harder for him by drawing from his natural geographic (and perhaps donor) base.

If I were him, I would just hold off until Feinstein retires/croaks (as awkward as it is to say it, one of those things is probably going to come by 2024) and go for that seat.

[Mike Thick]

Results will be reported here.

EDIT: Here too.

[Mike Thick]

How much of a surprise would it be if Garcetti gets under 50%?

Pretty major -- he's seen as very popular despite some missteps, and none of his challengers are very strong.

[Mike Thick]

Yeah, low turnout isn't especially surprising. Immediately after polls closed, some journalists in my Twitter were projecting it to be about eight percent -- so I suppose that this was a pleasant surprise, in a perverse way

[Mike Thick]

Congratulations to Mayor Garcetti. He may be a potential 2020 Democratic candidate. A big city mayor. Second term. However, low voter turnout is not surprising. Did the celebrities vote? Hmm. Most of the Angelenos were probably having fun in the sun.

New York City elections get more attention because NYC is the financial capital of the world and their politicians are more interesting. Garcetti should get his name ID up if he wants to run for president in 2020, or 2024.

Interestingly, Jesse Creed got a fair bit of publicity and money from celebrities. Rather unusual for a city council candidate, even in an entertainment-heavy area like L.A.

Garcetti needs to elevate his profile bigly, and I think he's more likely to go for Governor or Senator first in order to achieve that. But he's someone to watch out for in the future.