L.A.'s Actual Mayoral Election
In Los Angeles interest in following local politics falls just after interest in the new phone book cover, which explains why yesterday's mayoral primary had such a low turnout. However, the race did have five serious candidates, which are four more than are in our upcoming election for mayor this fall.
Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and Mayor Nickels are both first-term Democrats in cities where that party dominates local politics. Both are also pro-development who irk some on the left, and have been mayor during a time when their city rebounded from turn-of-the-century civic problems. However Hahn is still waiting to learn if he survived the primary, while Nickels will likely be able to sleep through his.
Hahn's problems seem to stem from his blandness and a message that apparently does not resonate with the voters. Not that Nickels is Mr. Excitement, but in Seattle it is hard to knock off an incumbent mayor--provided that no one dressed as a sea turtle kicks in the windows at Starbucks and Nike Town. From 1969 through 1998 Seattle had three mayors. Before Paul Schell the last incumbent to lose reelection was Allan Pomeroy in 1956, and we all remember what happened to him.
It's just much harder to be LA's mayor. Its population dwarfs ours and has big city problems that Seattle couldn't dream of, even if we teamed up with Portland. It also has a diverse population, all with different issues and priorities, whereas Seattle's populace can be divided into Foresters or Outbacks.
Seattle's passive, non-confrontational way is also different from LA. In Seattle if the mayor slights you it's time to talk about how that feels. In LA if you get dissed by the mayor you go after him--as seen in the candidacy of Bernard Parks the former police chief who was ousted by Hahn.
So after months of bitter campaigning LA's race heads towards what should be a messy May general election, while Nickels' messiest campaign may have been a few Novembers ago.
