The political spectrum in the city of Los Angeles (pop. 4M) is to the left of most places including the rest of L.A. County (10m). People with similar political profiles have won seats on the council in recent years (Hugo Soto Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, and City Controller Ken Mejia). I don't always agree with their rhet…
The political spectrum in the city of Los Angeles (pop. 4M) is to the left of most places including the rest of L.A. County (10m). People with similar political profiles have won seats on the council in recent years (Hugo Soto Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, and City Controller Ken Mejia). I don't always agree with their rhetoric, but they have been an interesting factor in L.A. city politics in recent years. I am somewhat to their right, but left of the mainstream establishment Dems. Here's a mindblower for you: Ysabel Jurado was endorsed by the Times! The LAT is a much better paper than the NYT, but it shows how much there is a desire for change and to get rid of the a$$h*le KDL.
My sense of the local electorate is that we are cranky and want a better quality of life. These sentiments have expressions both to the right (our county's next District Attorney) and to the left, with these lefty council candidates. KDL might still win, but Ysabel Jurado has a great chance of becoming L.A.'s first Filipina city councilmember. If Jurado wins and Jillian Burgos gets the seat here in the SFV then the new left will have had a great election. I think the regular Dem, Adrin Nazarian, will win here in CD-02 in the southeast SFV, but it is never over until it is over...
I defer to your judgment on things LA as you're a resident and I only visit, but if Jurado had made those comments prior to endorsements, I question if she would have received the LAT endorsement. As much as LAPD needs to be reformed, I can't imagine the city with only a bunch of social workers out on the streets.
In the primary I am pretty sure that the LAT endorsed Assm. Miguel Santiago. Zack's Picks also had Miguel as the March primary pick in CD-14. Once the runoff was set as Ysabel vs KDL I switched my endorsement and so did the Times.
"Probably" is not the word. Gascon is toast, no question about that. Of course D.A. is a county position, so they are voted on by many different communities from Lancaster to La Habra Heights. It will be weird having a semi-closeted Repub as D.A., but California seems to be moving more towards the "tough on crime" position in the cycle of crime and punishment policy. See also Prop 36 for another example of that trend. 36 will pass easily, increasing penalties for various crimes.
George Gascon will be the answer to a future CA politics trivia question: Who served as District Attorney in both San Francisco and Los Angeles counties?
Yeah KDL was my council member until I moved to NYC in August, I don't think the new left council members are doing anything for LA's quality of life. I'd have probably voted for Jurado had I voted in LA in November, but my candidate didn't make the runoff.
Last week, the LA Times published its electoral endorsements for the 2024 election. And while the paper noted in its first line that it is “no exaggeration to say this may be the most consequential election in a generation,” that was the only mention of the presidential race in its endorsements.[...]
But according to two people familiar with the situation, executive editor Terry Tang told editorial board staff earlier this month that the paper would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election this cycle, a decision that came from the paper’s owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a doctor who made his fortune in the healthcare industry.
The L.A. Times is relatively left-wing on their endorsements compared to most mainstream papers. I had not noticed that they didn't endorse in the presidential race, which is a nonevent here compared to state and local ballot measures and some key House races. The Emhoff family lives in this city so Kamala is now almost an Angelena (though she grew up in Oakland and served as San Francisco's D.A.). Certainly she is a California "favorite daughter". I don't know why they didn't endorse, but I think endorsements in the highest profile race are less useful than in local races where people have less information about the people or measures.
I think the Times is a relatively good paper because they try to cover local and regional issues. Also they have some excellent columnists from different communities and perspectives. I have learned a lot by reading people like Gustavo Arellano, Robin Abcarian, Frank Shyong and others, with Steve Lopez covering elders' issues and Patt Morrison with stories of SoCal history. No paper in the 21st century can do everything well because of the economic constraints of publishing, but they do OK mostly. I don't see the NYT very often nowadays, so I can't make the most informed commentary on that paper.
I love the LA Times and feel happier when reading it than when reading the NYT or WaPo. Fewer things to annoy me, less sense of self-importance, more sense that life's worth living. That said, I'm disturbed by the failure of the LAT to endorse Harris. This is the kind of existential election in which everyone, and of course every newspaper, should make clear where they stand. The failure here is not the fault of the editorial writers, who apparently had an endorsement ready to go, but of the paper's billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong. I don't what what his problem is, since he's said nothing. The failure to endorse is a great disappointment and a historic mistake.
The political spectrum in the city of Los Angeles (pop. 4M) is to the left of most places including the rest of L.A. County (10m). People with similar political profiles have won seats on the council in recent years (Hugo Soto Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, and City Controller Ken Mejia). I don't always agree with their rhetoric, but they have been an interesting factor in L.A. city politics in recent years. I am somewhat to their right, but left of the mainstream establishment Dems. Here's a mindblower for you: Ysabel Jurado was endorsed by the Times! The LAT is a much better paper than the NYT, but it shows how much there is a desire for change and to get rid of the a$$h*le KDL.
My sense of the local electorate is that we are cranky and want a better quality of life. These sentiments have expressions both to the right (our county's next District Attorney) and to the left, with these lefty council candidates. KDL might still win, but Ysabel Jurado has a great chance of becoming L.A.'s first Filipina city councilmember. If Jurado wins and Jillian Burgos gets the seat here in the SFV then the new left will have had a great election. I think the regular Dem, Adrin Nazarian, will win here in CD-02 in the southeast SFV, but it is never over until it is over...
Thanks for the local perspective
I defer to your judgment on things LA as you're a resident and I only visit, but if Jurado had made those comments prior to endorsements, I question if she would have received the LAT endorsement. As much as LAPD needs to be reformed, I can't imagine the city with only a bunch of social workers out on the streets.
In the primary I am pretty sure that the LAT endorsed Assm. Miguel Santiago. Zack's Picks also had Miguel as the March primary pick in CD-14. Once the runoff was set as Ysabel vs KDL I switched my endorsement and so did the Times.
The LAT is pretty left wing relative to most big city newspapers, they endorsed the progressive city controller who beat a longtime LA pol stalwart.
even Los Angeles has limits as the DA Gascon is probably going to lose.
"Probably" is not the word. Gascon is toast, no question about that. Of course D.A. is a county position, so they are voted on by many different communities from Lancaster to La Habra Heights. It will be weird having a semi-closeted Repub as D.A., but California seems to be moving more towards the "tough on crime" position in the cycle of crime and punishment policy. See also Prop 36 for another example of that trend. 36 will pass easily, increasing penalties for various crimes.
George Gascon will be the answer to a future CA politics trivia question: Who served as District Attorney in both San Francisco and Los Angeles counties?
And amazingly before that was the chief of police of Mesa, Arizona, a rather conservative city, and he was well respected.
Yeah KDL was my council member until I moved to NYC in August, I don't think the new left council members are doing anything for LA's quality of life. I'd have probably voted for Jurado had I voted in LA in November, but my candidate didn't make the runoff.
About the L.A. Times, are they so good? Can you explain this? https://www.semafor.com/article/10/22/2024/los-angeles-times-wont-endorse-for-president
[quote:]
Last week, the LA Times published its electoral endorsements for the 2024 election. And while the paper noted in its first line that it is “no exaggeration to say this may be the most consequential election in a generation,” that was the only mention of the presidential race in its endorsements.[...]
But according to two people familiar with the situation, executive editor Terry Tang told editorial board staff earlier this month that the paper would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election this cycle, a decision that came from the paper’s owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a doctor who made his fortune in the healthcare industry.
The L.A. Times is relatively left-wing on their endorsements compared to most mainstream papers. I had not noticed that they didn't endorse in the presidential race, which is a nonevent here compared to state and local ballot measures and some key House races. The Emhoff family lives in this city so Kamala is now almost an Angelena (though she grew up in Oakland and served as San Francisco's D.A.). Certainly she is a California "favorite daughter". I don't know why they didn't endorse, but I think endorsements in the highest profile race are less useful than in local races where people have less information about the people or measures.
I think the Times is a relatively good paper because they try to cover local and regional issues. Also they have some excellent columnists from different communities and perspectives. I have learned a lot by reading people like Gustavo Arellano, Robin Abcarian, Frank Shyong and others, with Steve Lopez covering elders' issues and Patt Morrison with stories of SoCal history. No paper in the 21st century can do everything well because of the economic constraints of publishing, but they do OK mostly. I don't see the NYT very often nowadays, so I can't make the most informed commentary on that paper.
I love the LA Times and feel happier when reading it than when reading the NYT or WaPo. Fewer things to annoy me, less sense of self-importance, more sense that life's worth living. That said, I'm disturbed by the failure of the LAT to endorse Harris. This is the kind of existential election in which everyone, and of course every newspaper, should make clear where they stand. The failure here is not the fault of the editorial writers, who apparently had an endorsement ready to go, but of the paper's billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong. I don't what what his problem is, since he's said nothing. The failure to endorse is a great disappointment and a historic mistake.