Los Angeles Times - 05.03.2020

LATIMES.COM THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020B

ELECTION 2020

That could be an oppor-
tunity for lesser-known can-
didates, giving them more
time to knock on doors and
connect with voters, said po-
litical consultant Dermot
Givens, who was not in-
volved in any of the council
races.
“That doesn’t cost mon-
ey. That just takes time —
kissing babies, shaking
hands, letting people know
who you are,” Givens said.
But runoff campaigns
can also be more costly. Be-
cause presidential elections
have higher turnout, candi-
dates are already having to
spend more money to reach
more voters, said political
consultant Larry Levine.
That pool of voters
should grow even more in
November, he said. “Now
they’ll be campaigning to a
universe of voters that is
three or four times larger” —
and for a longer period of
time, Levine added.
Ryu, who was elected five
years ago as a City Hall out-
sider, had a long list of ad-
vantages this time around:
The councilman raised and
spent more than $1 million in
contributions, more than

any other L.A. council candi-

date. He was endorsed by

the Los Angeles County

Democratic Party and a

host of Democratic politi-

cians, labor unions and busi-

ness groups.

Backers said he had fol-

lowed through on his prom-

ises, including clamping

down on campaign money

from real estate developers

and making spending in his

office more transparent.

Cindy Chvatal, president of

the Hancock Park Home-

owners Assn., called him a

“remarkable” councilman,

saying he had worked to fix

sidewalks, repair streets and

respond promptly to calls

from constituents.

“If you look at his record,

and you look at what he’s

done, he’s served the district

really well,” she said.

Raman mobilized prog-

ressive activists who com-

plained that Ryu had fallen

short on housing and home-

lessness. She brought grass-

roots energy to a campaign

that sought to bring in vot-

ers who were disconnected

from local politics.

Her campaign also

picked up buzz from celebri-

ties such as Natalie Portman

and Jane Fonda.

Raman’s strong showing

represents “a complete

bucking of conventional pol-

itics and the way people

think elections get done in

Los Angeles,” said Walker

Foley, senior organizer with

the environmental group

Food & Water Action, which

endorsed Raman and has

pushed to phase out gas-

fired power plants.

Raman, he said, built

a “powerful, at-the-door

movement that spoke to vot-

ers and got people to the

polls.”

Her platform included

setting up a network of com-

munity centers to assist un-

housed Angelenos and

speeding L.A.’s transition to

clean energy. As of Wednes-

day evening, Raman was

about 7 points behind Ryu.

In the race to succeed

Councilman Herb Wesson in

South Los Angeles, Yoo

faces more of an uphill climb.

Election results posted

Wednesday showed her

trailing Ridley-Thomas by a

significant margin.

Yoo campaigned as a

fighter for regular citizens.

She turned the spotlight on

her legal battles with city

leaders over their plans to

cut down trees in Holly-

wood, redraw council dis-

trict boundaries and con-

struct a 27-story residential

tower in Hollywood. Al-

though she did not win the

redistricting fight, the city

agreed to preserve many of

the shade trees and was or-

dered by a judge to repeal its

approval of the tower.

On Wednesday, Yoo said

she has begun conferring

with lawyers about the coun-

ty’s mishandling of Tues-

day’s election — including

inaccurate ballots, long lines

at polling places and mal-

functioning equipment — to

ensure that those mistakes

are not repeated in the No-

vember runoff.

“The county’s inability to

put on a seamless election is

completely outrageous,” she

said. “I can’t believe Super-

visor Mark Ridley-Thomas

can’t get this right.”

Ridley-Thomas said vot-

ers are “smart enough to

know that implementing

new procedures always re-

quires improvement.”

The L.A. County Board of

Supervisors has already

launched a review of the

“pros and cons of the new

system,” he said.

Ridley-Thomas ran on a

platform of experience,

highlighting his work in

fighting homelessness, add-

ing rail lines and reopening

the problem-plagued Mar-

tin Luther King Jr. Commu-

nity Hospital in Willow-

brook. Voters in the district,

he said last month, were in

no mood to experiment.

The district’s “voters got

it right — 47% MRT, 24%

Yoo,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Tuesday was far from a

bad night for political veter-

ans and incumbents. In an

Eastside race to replace

Councilman Jose Huizar,

former state Sen. Kevin de

León appeared to be avoid-

ing a runoff, according to re-

sults tallied as of Wednesday

evening.

In the San Fernando Val-

ley, Councilman John Lee

had a solid lead over college

educator Loraine Lundquist

in a rematch to represent

neighborhoods including

Chatsworth, Porter Ranch

and Granada Hills.

Three other incumbents

— Paul Krekorian, Nury

Martinez and Marqueece

Harris-Dawson — sailed

easily to reelection.

Two council underdogs are poised to force runoffs

NITHYA RAMANwas only about 7 points behind

Councilman David Ryu as of Wednesday evening.

Mel MelconLos Angeles Times

[Council,from B1]

it break through to the aver-
age voter?”
Mac Zilber, a consultant
on Lacey’s campaign, said
he was “thrilled that the peo-
ple of L.A. County have deliv-
ered D.A. Lacey such a
strong first-place finish, by a
margin that virtually no-
body expected.”
Gascón has gained
ground with each wave of
updates from the L.A.
County registrar. By
Wednesday night, he held
about 27% of the vote. Rossi
has hovered around 22%
since the first wave of re-
turns.
There are approximately
573,000 votes left to tally, and
county officials said vote to-
tals could be updated again
Thursday. Political consult-
ants said it is likely Gascón
will be able to drag the con-
test into November.
“These things are direc-
tional and obviously there’s
a trend downward,” said
Eric Hacopian, a Los Ange-
les-based political consult-
ant. “The likelihood of a run-
off is far greater than her
winning outright.”
In the run-up to the pri-
mary, some had questioned
if Rossi would siphon prog-
ressive voters from Gascón,
making it easier for Lacey to
avoid a runoff. The two cam-
paigns had sniped at each
other periodically in recent
months: Gascón filed a legal
challenge in late December
to stop Rossi from identify-
ing herself as a public de-
fender on the ballot, while
Rossi took occasional pot-
shots at Gascón for over-
stating his reformer resume
on debate stages in recent
weeks.
Lacey’s mentor, former
Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, said
the strong performance
might carry extra weight for
the veteran prosecutor giv-
en the clash at her doorstep
on Monday.
“I think she will relish a
victory, even just by one vote,

because it is sort of a reaffir-

mation that there’s a lot of

people out there that admire

her work, and support her

and like her,” Cooley said.

“She’s had a very rough

week. It was very obvious

this had taken its toll on her

emotionally and physically.”

The incident remains

under investigation by the

Los Angeles Police Depart-

ment. Dermot Givens, a Los

Angeles-based consultant

who has been involved in

past district attorney’s

races, said the fiasco may

have actually helped Lacey

at the polls.

“I think it did boost Jack-

ie’s followers among law en-

forcement, women and

some black people,” Givens

said. “Going to somebody’s

front door like that is kind of

extreme. Probably legally

right, but everyone knows

how that feels when some-

body comes to their front

door. And it wasn’t her. It

was her husband defending

her.”

In each new wave of re-

turns, Gascón has been able

to separate himself from

Rossi and would probably

finish in second place if a

runoff is forced. Some sup-

porters believe Gascón and

Rossi voters would unite to

overwhelm Lacey if the race

extends into the fall.

“Gascón, Rossi and their

supporters have always

been united against Lacey —

and they’ll be joined by a

much larger and more favor-

able electorate in November

that also embraces reform,”

Dan Newman, a political

strategist involved with an

outside committee called

Run George, Run, said in an

email to The Times.

Other observers ques-

tioned the effectiveness of

committees supporting

Gascón, wondering how he

could receive millions of dol-

lars from progressive boost-

ers but still end up polling

relatively close to Rossi. The

public defender attracted

zero dollars in outside com-

mittee money and received

far less than Gascón in di-

rect donations.

“There was nothing com-

pelling about what they were

talking about ... about why

he’s a reformer,” Hacopian

said. “If you look at the mon-

ey that they spent, the fact

that he came in in the 20s,

there’s no excuse for that.”

Rossi said she remained

hopeful that she could climb

into second place and be-

lieved her strong showing

highlighted an appetite for a

true alternative in the dis-

trict attorney’s office.

“The fact that we’ve re-

ceived as many votes as we

have with so much less fund-

ing and so much of a smaller

team than the other candi-

dates, I think it’s really re-

flective of the fact that L.A.

County is ready for some-

thing new, and tired of the

politicians and candidates

who are purchased and recy-

cled,” she said.

Many voters probably

flocked to Rossi because she

was the only candidate with-

out a law enforcement back-

ground, experts said. Her

appeal among groups that

backed Democratic presi-

dential primary victor

Bernie Sanders, including

the Los Angeles chapter of

the Democratic Socialists of

America, may have also con-

tributed to her strong show-

ing.

With Sanders still a con-

tender to be the Democratic

nominee, those voters could

be out in droves in Novem-

ber. But whether they would

shift allegiance to Gascón is

far from certain.

“I think it was the Bernie

people voting for [Rossi].

The super-progressive,

ultra-left-wing people came

out and they voted the full

ballot. I don’t think those

were Gascón’s votes, and

they weren’t Lacey’s votes,”

Givens said. “They were hers

and Bernie’s votes.”

DISTRICT ATTORNEY hopeful George Gascón, left, greets backers Tuesday at Union Station as they await
results. Gascón gained ground with each wave of updates, and by Wednesday night he stood at about 27%.

Carolyn ColeLos Angeles Times

Lacey’s lead narrowing

INCUMBENTJackie Lacey’s share of the vote has

dipped closer to 50%, indicating a runoff is possible.

Irfan KhanLos Angeles Times

[D.A., from B1]

After nearly a week of

scandal within the Los

Angeles County Sheriff ’s

Department, voters showed

overwhelming support

Tuesday for stronger civilian

oversight of one of the larg-

est local law enforcement

agencies in the nation.

Early returns showed

that Measure R, which

would allow the Sheriff Civil-

ian Oversight Commission

to investigate misconduct

using subpoenas, appeared

headed for a big win. With

more than 1 million votes tal-

lied as of Wednesday eve-

ning, the initiative had

garnered more than 71% of

the vote.

“Measure R is a win for

the people,” said Patrisse

Cullors, co-founder of Black

Lives Matter and the chair-

woman of the Reform L.A.

Jails committee, which co-

wrote the initiative. “What

we’re seeing is people want-

ing to have some form of ac-

countability and casting

their ballot to ensure that it

happens.”

The measure also re-

quires the oversight com-

mission to develop a plan to

reduce the jail population

and reinvest those cost sav-

ings into mental health

treatment and other com-

munity-based services.

“People can’t get well in a

cell,” said Cullors, who

spearheaded the campaign

and helped generate com-

munity backing and support

from politicians and Holly-

wood celebrities, including

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ava

DuVernay and John Legend.

The election came as the

Sheriff ’s Department is

under fire for trying to keep a

lid on allegations that depu-

ties shared graphic images

from the helicopter crash

that killed Kobe Bryant and

eight others — instead of fol-

lowing normal investigative

protocols.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva

acknowledged this week

that he ordered deputies to

delete the photos, a move

that some inside the depart-

ment as well as legal experts

said could amount to de-

struction of evidence.

“It’s like, my goodness,

Sheriff Villanueva, are you

trying to help us get Measure

R passed? That’s what it felt

like,” said Jasmyne Cannick,

a political consultant and

activist who said she helped

gather nearly 250,000 signa-

tures to get the measure on

the ballot.

Villanueva’s controver-

sial decisions to reinstate

fired deputies and what she

called his apparent uncon-

cern over the existence of se-

cret societies of tattooed

deputies helped garner fur-

ther support, Cannick said.

The commission already

has the ability to direct the

Office of Inspector General

to issue subpoenas. In Janu-

ary, the Los Angeles County

Board of Supervisors

adopted that ordinance af-

ter reports by the inspector

general that the office had

been stonewalled in obtain-

ing internal records needed

to monitor the agency. It

went into effect Feb. 28. Mea-

sure R strengthens the com-

mission’s hand.

“We know what the board

gives, they can take away,”

Cannick said. Measure R

“cannot be undone, unless

you put another ballot mea-

sure on.”

Villanueva has said he

would go to court to block

the release of confidential

personnel records, ongoing

criminal and administrative

investigations, and confi-

dential victim information.

In a statement Wednesday,

the sheriff said his agency

believes in transparency.

“This is exactly why I or-

dered all reports, video, and

other information we can le-

gally disclose without im-

pacting active investiga-

tions to be loaded onto our

website,” he said.

But in an earlier inter-

view with KPCC 89.3, Vil-

lanueva said he opposed

Measure R, calling it a “tax-

payer-funded public sham-

ing effort.”

“They think it’s some

magical ‘gotcha,’ something

they’re gonna extract out of

it. And then that does not

serve the public well at all,

and it’s gonna cost a fortune

in lawyer fees,” he told the

public radio station after

calling in as a self-described

private citizen.

The Assn. for Los Ange-

les Deputy Sheriffs, the

union that represents rank-

and-file deputies, had op-

posed the measure. Officials

declined to comment

Wednesday.

The strong support for

Measure R shows that the

public wants meaningful ci-

vilian oversight, said Sean

Kennedy, a Loyola Law

School professor and mem-

ber of the civilian oversight

panel.

In the past, the depart-

ment has failed to produce

policy drafts before they are

put into effect and informa-

tion about its actions to ad-

dress societies of deputies.

“Now that the public has

given us a mandate, I hope

that the sheriff ’s office will

just produce the documents

that we request,” Kennedy

said.

Voters back

oversight of

sheriff office

On heels of another

scandal, Measure R

would grant subpoena

power to department’s

civilian watchdog.

By Alene

Tchekmedyian