There are four weeks weeks and change left until the June 3 primary showdown to decide who inherits the black seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. It's heating up:
- This week's L.A. Wave covers the recent televised debate between Bernard Parks and Mark Ridley-Thomas, reporting "new lines of attack in the increasingly tense 2nd District campaign, as the two leading candidates traded charges over ties to powerful special-interest groups and their respective positions on the former King-Drew Medical Center."
- L.A. Sniper Alan Mittelstaedt caught a post-debate exchange outside the Westside Jewish Community Center between Ridley-Thomas and John Shallman, a consultant for Parks. Until then, "it was still a sleep-inducing session and the tone mild enough not to disturb three people dozing near me." CityBeat
- They debate again Saturday at 6 pm at the New Creation Christian Faith Center in South Los Angeles. Leimert Park Beat
- Earlier Saturday (at 12:30 pm), KPCC's Kitty Felde moderates a debate in Mar Vista with a panel of questioners that includes Channel 2 political analyst Dave Bryan, UCLA associate dean Bill Parent and L.A. Urban League president Blair Taylor. UCLA Newsroom
- Ridley-Thomas fan Betty Pleasant columnized at length last week against Rep. Maxine Waters' endorsement of Parks, and this week announces the endorsement of her guy by a black LAPD officers' group.