Archive: Campaign 2014

First-time candidate Patty Lopez has defeated Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra in a cliffhanger between two Democrats in the 39th Assembly district. Jeffrey Prang wins the Assessor race.

The inexperienced candidate who appears to be unseating fellow Democrat Raul Bocanegra in the Valley's 39th Assembly district has expanded her lead to 235 votes.

They are both Democrats so there is not a whole lot at stake politically, but the still-continuing race in the Northeast Valley's 39th Assembly district is intriguing. Incumbent Raul Bocanegra could lose.

Kuehl got 52.8 percent of the vote and will form, with Mark Ridley-Thomas and another newcomer, Hilda Solis, a majority of public union-backed supervisors on the board.

Election results are coming in slowly despite the abysmal turnout. Sheila Kuehl and Ted Lieu are leading, McDonnell elected sheriff, more inside.

The Republicans will control both houses of Congress for President Obama's final two years in office.

The polls close in LA County today at 8 p.m. and mail-in ballots need to be received by today or dropped off at a polling place. A roundup of news items.

Supervisor Yaroslavsky says he remains neutral in the race between Sheila Kuehl and Bobby Shriver, and he asked Shriver to stop claiming otherwise. Plus more politics notes.

If publisher and Shriver backer Austin Beutner had any role in the decision, it doesn't show. The editorial says Sheila Kuehl "best embodies the qualities needed for the new era."

I'm still traveling and trying not to pay close attention to LA politics or media, but this is too intriguing to pass up.

No campaign manager, advertising, debates or web page. But there is now a Tanaka campaign video on YouTube.

Retired school principal George McKenna won the vacant seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board in Tuesday's runoff, using his long name recognition and backing by UTLA to defeat Alex Johnson in the divisive runoff.

John Duran got 16 percent of the vote in the Board of Supervisors primary, a bloc that was coveted by Shriver and co-finalist Sheila Kuehl. Now she says it's no big deal since she already won West Hollywood.

Shriver has effusive praise for California's groundbreaking law, but never mentions who sponsored it. Could that be because it's Sheila Kuehl and she's running against another Shriver?

The former speaker wants to start the recount in Kern County and go from there. Won't be fair if more counties are not included, says Betty Yee's consultant.

The lineup didn't change overnight, but some of the November general election races came into sharper focus.

Sheila Kuehl leads the race for Zev Yaroslavsky's seat, Jim McDonnell comes close to an outright win for sheriff, and it looks like a Republican versus a Democrat in the final race to succeed Henry Waxman. Plus a lot more.

Campaign 2014 primary races saunter toward the end, SCOTUS won't hear James Risen case, Isla Vista fathers meet, what the Academy will pay LACMA for May Co., Long Beach Register may cut back, and much more.

The morning's news includes an obituary of Ron Smith, the mostly Republican political candidate who ran big campaigns in Los Angeles, San Francisco and statewide.

Warren Olney gets the party started at tonight's SPJ event. Next week it's the Press Club.

A dismissal motion filed Tuesday in federal court alleges that former Sheriff Lee Baca and former undersheriff Paul Tanaka personally ordered the hiding of federal jailhouse informant Anthony Brown.

Celeste Fremon has covered for many years the foibles and scandals of Lee Baca's sheriff's department, and in the new issue of Los Angeles Magazine she gets more than 10,000 words to explain for newcomers the "morass" that formed under the management of Baca and top deputy (and now candidate) Paul Tanaka.

Obama talks California drought — then goes golfing on a lush green course in the desert? Brand-name consultants for Williamson, a Villaraigosa aide joins the LAFD and more.

The race to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman in the 33rd congressional district just got more crowded. Miller will take a leave from KCRW and his Washington Post column.

Greuel is going with old Villaraigosa hands to run her campaign this time, but Ace Smith and Sean Clegg also advised one of the so-called independent PACs that pushed Greuel for mayor last year.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky put out a statement this morning confirming that he will not run for the Henry Waxman seat in Congress. (In case you were going to ask.)

CD 33 contributed millions to President Obama's election campaigns. The district hasn't been up for grabs for four decades. And it's home to the likes of Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban.

Ted Lieu gets in. Wendy Greuel pays down some debt. Remembering the Henry Waxman legacy. Ed Edelman endorses Bobby Shriver. The political tension between Gloria Molina and Kevin de Leon. Plus Dan Schnur, a City Hall move and more.

Greuel doesn't live in the Westside and coastal district, but the law doesn't mind — the voters may be another story. The list of other candidates still may be long.

Rep. Henry Waxman's decision to retire rather than run for another term makes available one of the Democrats' most valuable congressional districts.

“At the end of this year, I would have been in Congress for 40 years,” Waxman said. “If there is a time for me to move on to another chapter in my life, I think this is the time to do it."

Shriver and Sheila Kuehl are both of Santa Monica but they look to be the main choices for Democratic voters across a wide swath of Los Angeles County.

Buck McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, won't go through another reelection battle this year, Politico reports. His district includes the Santa Clarita Valley area.

Former LAPD official Jim McDonnell has endorsements from Chief Charlie Beck, DA Jackie Lacey, City Attorney Mike Feuer and Supervisor Don Knabe, among others. He is currently the chief of police in Long Beach.

"I might run for something in the future, but I just don’t think I want another campaign now,” former controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel said Thursday. Here's who is in.

Sheriff Lee Baca said he is retiring for personal reasons and also to avoid the negative coverage of the Sheriff's Department in the upcoming campaign.

Media say that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca informed the county's elected supervisors and his key staff that he will announce on Tuesday. Gone by end of the month. Long Beach police chief Jim McDonnell reportedly looking at getting in the race.

The director of USC’s Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics quit the Republican Party a few years ago and plans to run as an independent. Alex Padilla is already in the race.

While today's indictments were not unexpected, Baca said, "it is nevertheless a sad day for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. We do not tolerate misconduct by any deputies."

Former governor Gray Davis, former city attorney Carmen Trutanich and high-profile defense lawyer Mark Geragos are co-hosting a $1,500-per-napkin fundraiser for Baca next week.

Former assemblyman Dario Frommer and attorney David Fleming, a big player in the San Fernando Valley secession crusade a decade ago, are the co-chairs of Robert Hertzberg's bid to get back into elected office.

Former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg finished out of the money when he ran for mayor in 2005, and until now has resisted the urge to run again. He announced at a reception up in Sacramento tonight and posted to Facebook.

Deposed undersheriff says that Baca used the department to hire friends and relatives, micromanaged, and ordered the hiding of an jail inmate from the FBI. None of these allegations were made while Tanaka served as a senior but controversial aide, Baca's team points out.

Padilla, the former president of the Los Angeles City Council, says that "last November, more than 10 MILLION Californians did not vote. I’m running for Secretary of State to change that."

The former congresswoman from the Eastside and San Gabriel Valley is expected by many to run for the Board of Supervisors when Gloria Molina is termed out in 2014.