Los Angeles mayoral election is today

By Richard K. Barry

Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti wrapped up their campaigns yesterday in the race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles. As a local newspaper put it, they have been campaigning furiously in an attempt to "avoid the potential lowest turnout for an open mayoral seat in modern history."

Reuters:

Tuesday's vote is a runoff between the two veteran Democrats, who in March were the top vote-getters in a primary election in which Garcetti got 33 percent and Greuel 29 percent. One of them would have had to have won more than 50 percent of the ballots cast to have been elected outright.

The non-partisan campaign has centered on what Greuel and Garcetti agree is a dire financial outlook facing America's second most populous metropolis, and the political clout commanded by the city's public employee unions.

Though turnout might be low, that hasn't stopped the candidates from spending record amounts of cash, which passed the $33 million mark on Sunday:

In the campaign's final days, Garcetti vastly outspent Greuel on the airwaves and other campaign efforts, but Greuel had far more support from the outside groups.

A new poll by the Los Angeles Times and USC has Garcetti with a narrowing lead of 7 points.

Here is Chuck Todd's analysis. 

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(Cross-posted at Phantom Public.)

Behind the Ad: Will Ferrell endorses Eric Garcetti for Los Angeles Mayor

By Richard K. Barry 

(Another installment in our extensive "Behind the Ad" series.) 

Eric Garcetti

Who: The Eric Garcetti mayoral campaign

Where: Los Angeles. 

What's going on: Haven't done one of these since November, but that doesn't mean that elections of one sort or another aren't always going on somewhere. In this case, actor and comedian Will Ferrell does a hilarious spot for Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles.

I don't know much about Garcetti other than that he's a member of Los Angeles City Council; he's a Democrat and he has a lot of friends in show business. He was an early Obama supporter and he declared his intention to run for mayor of L.A. on Sept. 8, 2011.



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