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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

L.A. Votes For Next Mayor, City Council, Sales Tax Hike

Agnus Dei Farrant |
March 5, 2013 | 11:43 a.m. PST

Executive Producer

Downtown L.A. (Channone Arif/Creative Commons).
Downtown L.A. (Channone Arif/Creative Commons).
Los Angeles residents headed to the polls Tuesday to vote for their next mayor, city attorney, LAUSD board, city controller, City Council, Los Angeles Community College District, a measure to increase the city’s sales tax and a measure to reform police and firefighters’ pensions.

The primary elections include eight mayoral candidates. The top two candidates will be put on the ballot for a runoff election on May 21. But not much more than half a million of the city's 1.8 million registered voters are expected to submit ballots for this election.

By the morning of Election Day, about 149,000 out of 663,100 vote-by-mail ballots, or 22 percent, had been returned to the city clerk's office. During the last open mayoral primary in 2005, 105,000 mail-ballots were submitted for a turnout of 25 percent  

City attorney candidates have made the race one of the most expensive non-mayoral contests in city politics history, spending nearly $3 million, KTLA reported.

From the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

In a poll released Sunday, half of all voters who have picked City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel said they may change their minds. Overall, 14 percent of likely voters hadn't decided who to vote for. Besides [Kevin] James, the field also includes City Councilwoman Jan Perry and tech executive Emanuel Pleitez.

Garcetti and Greuel led in the USC/Los Angeles Times poll, but no single top candidate has emerged decisively as a favorite, making much of Election Day today all about voter turnout. With the exception of James, who has a core Republican base, none of the candidates has built up a solid base with specific groups, such as Latino voters, that could propel them to a clear victory.

Voters are divided on and the top mayoral candidates oppose the Measure A tax increase that would generate $1 billion over the next five years, according to KTLA.

 

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on the LA election here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.



 

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