With Election Day for the L.A. City mayoral race looming on Tuesday, and each candidate rushing to secure those last minute votes, now comes the appropriate time to reflect on the nature of this past election cycle. To no surprise, this election was marked with the fiery political rhetoric that is evident in most elections.

All candidates have spent a great deal of time attacking their political opponents, and as expected, the attacks have been vicious, personal, and sometimes downright comical. In particular, the mailers sent by the mayoral candidates to residents have utilized funny and clever methods to bash their opponents.

In honor of the virulent rhetoric from the race, we assembled some of the wackiest mailers sent out by the campaigns. If you're not shocked by some of the attacks made by the other candidates, you are sure to get a few chuckles from these mailers. 

Brought to you by the Wendy Greuel Campaign, this mailer features mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti as a cartoon prince charming in a tale called “The Tall Tales of Eric Garcetti.” Complete with a storybook motif accented with many Hollywood references ("Garcettiland"), this mailer paints Garcetti as a storyteller who would give Angelenos an “unhappy ending."

 

This mailer again comes from the Greuel campaign, this time attacking opponent Jan Perry. Unlike the comical storybook mailer about Garcetti, this mailer attacks Perry for her fiscal mismanagement, making light of her two bankruptcies. Whether or not this has bearing on the campaign remains to be seen. But this mailer is effective in making Perry look like a fiscally irresponsible individual unfit to manage the city’s budget.

 

Perry’s campaign sent out this mailer, which encapsulates a major complaint lodged against the Greuel campaign. Critics say Greuel is the recipient of a lot of outside special interest money, and is likely to work for them instead of Angelenos. Making Greuel seem like a bought-out politician, Perry's mailer features a blistering PBS “Viewers Like You” style.

This Garcetti campaign mailer attacks Greuel for her proposed budget plans. Specifically, it questioned the validity of one of Greuel’s claims that as city controller, Greuel was able to remove millions of dollors worth of wasteful spending. Garcetti brings in criticism from the Los Angeles Times for her proposed budget plans to support his argument.

 

Bringing it back to the Hollywood motif, Greuel here utilizes an Academy Awards theme to attack Garcetti. Presenting a Garcetti-stylized Oscar statue, this campaign awards Garcetti the distinction of “Worst Performance by a Politician in a Leading Role.”

 

The Greuel campaign mailer utilizes a darker "Nightmare on Elm Street” theme in order to attack her opponent Garcetti. Although this mailer doesn't use any Freddy Krueger imagery (that would have been much appreciated), this mailer features a spooky City Hall set against a gloomy, ominous looking sky. In continuation of her Oscar’s theme, Greuel has included other honors that Garcetti seems to have won, including “Worst Use of Public Funds,” “Worst Economic Failure,” and “Worst Ethics.”

 

 

Here, Greuel attempts to defend herself against one of the most egregious attacks waged against her: that when she was city controller, her work against waste was unsubstantiated. To counter that claim, Greuel mixes Pinocchio with images of Perry and Garcetti. If anything, this mailer is most effective in lumping Garcetti and Perry together as of the same cloth.

Another complaint waged against Greuel throughout the campaign has been that she does not have a history of being a true Democrat. Here, the Perry campaign is attacking Greuel for her self-proclaimed “allegiance” to the Democratic Party, and features a photo of a ballot submitted by Greuel in which she declares herself to be a republican. The ad also features a photo of a dumbfounded Greuel, and the Republican Party’s elephant symbol.

 

In another attack against Garcetti, this mailer sent out by Greuel attacks Garcetti’s involvement with Clear Channel as a stockholder. In a color display projected on a LED-style billboard, Garcetti is presented as a greedy businessman who works for the sole intent of increasing profit. Greuel in essence is attacking Garcetti’s work as a businessman, a qualification he's frequently trotted out.

 

This final mailer comes from Perry’s campaign against Greuel. In this particular mailer, Perry attacks the entitlements Greuel received as a city official. Following the argument that Greuel is working for special interests, and not the citizens of L.A., this additionally sheds light on Gruel’s use of the city's ticket dismissal program to help her political insiders. This mailer is rich in attacking Greuel as corrupt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reach Staff Reporter Edward Loera here and follow him on Twitter here