Articles tagged with elections

City Councilman Eric Garcetti is the next mayor of Los Angeles, beating City Controller Wendy Greuel by 54 percent to 46 percent.
That’s pretty much exactly how the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University called it last night at 8 pm, just as polls closed. Among their findings – Garcetti won 63 percent of the Latino vote, and 54 percent …

Did you know that L.A. has more than 2 million eligible voters, but that 1.6 million of them are expected to skip the election on Tuesday? This means that you, dear voter, have a lot of responsibility.
When to Vote:
Polls are open from 7AM – 8PM on Tuesday, May 21st.
Where to Vote:
Find your polling place and a sample ballot here.
Wendy Greuel vs. Eric Garcetti:
Angelenos will finally …

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to vote for the next mayor of Los Angeles and several other key offices. But will there be a flood of ballots, or merely a trickle?
Used to be, a lot more votes were cast in L.A. during big city elections. Here we are on the cusp of selecting a new mayor for the second most populous …

Last summer, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Anaheim charging that the city’s at-large council elections excluded Latinos from electing their own and asked the courts to create voting by district.
The Democratic Party of Orange County just endorsed an eight-district proposal, while the Republican-dominated city council has largely mocked the idea.
KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis talks to Gustavo Arellano, editor of the OC Weekly, on efforts …

It’s the end of the week, and it’s time for the Friday mixer. From eight candidates to two: the primary election is over, and the field of candidates for mayor of Los Angeles has narrowed considerably.
Plus, an embarrassingly low voter turnout for the primary election, union endorsements, outgoing mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s future, and a look ahead to the next 11 weeks. All among the …

Retiring type. Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan says his team simply didn’t have the time it needed to collect the nearly 300,000 signatures required to qualify a pension reform measure for the May ballot. Riordan has abandoned the effort. His measure would have scaled back benefits for current city workers and required new hires to accept a 410(k)-style retirement plan instead of a guaranteed …

Lost days. The passage of Proposition 30 is undeniably good news for LAUSD, but it’s already sparked a dispute about how the additional funding should be used. Deasy says the district could salvage some of the five days of instruction lost this year because of earlier budget cuts. But members of the teachers union want all of those days restored, in addition to five …

Super close. California Assembly Speaker John Perez says Democrats have won two-thirds of the seats in that that house of the Legislature, and he expects his party will get the same majority in the state Senate. If so, Democrats would achieve a coveted supermajority, meaning they could pass tax increases without relying on Republican votes. Sacramento Bee
Prop. 30 win. California public school students and …

 
Donors revealed, mystery continues. California’s political watchdog agency says an $11 million campaign donation from an Arizona non-profit is the biggest case of campaign money laundering ever in California. The money apparently passed through two other groups before it was funneled to a California committee fighting Prop. 30 and backing Prop. 32. Sacramento Bee
Too close to call. On the eve of the election, more …

If Proposition 39 is complex, then Proposition 40 – a measure that’s been abandoned by the people who put it on the ballot – is downright confounding.
Prop. 40 is a referendum on new state Senate districts drawn up last year by a citizen’s commission. A “Yes” vote upholds the new districts. A “No” vote rejects them and places control of the redistricting process in …

Most of us have no qualms about weighing in on school funding, the death penalty or any number of other issues, but when it comes to deciding what formula the state should use for calculating corporate taxes, well, a lot of folks are hopelessly at sea. There’s no getting around it. Proposition 39 is one of those measures that makes people furl their brows …

How hot an issue are genetically-modified foods and the debate over Prop 37? We went to a local supermarket and talked with some shoppers to find out:
“It just seems like it’s a no-brainer,” said one shopper. “We need to know what’s in our food and make decisions based on the evidence that we just don’t know enough about GMO’s to expose ourselves and our …

Stories we are following today in the KCRW newsroom:
Halloween mayhem. Two people are in custody following a shooting that injured four people on the USC campus. Police say neither the suspected gunman nor the man who was targeted is affiliated with the school. It happened just before midnight outside a party being sponsored by a campus group. Another shooting last night injured three people …

The election’s been all about the economy, but a surprising amount of airtime has been devoted to the standoff between Iran and Israel over Iran’s nuclear program. All that tension makes it an especially interesting time for Rita Jahanforuz, a mega pop star from Israel, to be touring across the US right now.
Her fans know her simply as Rita, and she’s Israel’s biggest-selling pop …

Party time. Up to half-a-million revelers will pour into West Hollywood tonight for one of the world’s largest annual Halloween celebrations. The West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval runs from 6 to 11 on Santa Monica Boulevard between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard. West Hollywood Halloween
Naming names. The clock could soon be ticking for an Arizona non-profit to reveal the source of $11 million …

At first glance, Proposition 35 seems like an easy choice.
A “Yes” vote is a nod in favor longer prison sentences and higher fines – up to a million dollars – for human traffickers. Prop. 35 would also require human traffickers to register as sex offenders, and it demands that registered sex offenders disclose all of their Internet identities.
“In my 23 years as a prosecutor, …

Stories we are following today ion the KCRW newsroom:
Helping hand. California is sending help to areas of the country being pounded by Hurricane Sandy. Gov. Jerry Brown says the California National Guard has flown airplanes, helicopters and two specialized rescue teams to North Carolina. Ten search-and-rescue experts from fire departments up and down the state previously traveled east. The L.A. region of the American …

Proposition 34 aims to repeal the death penalty in California and replace it with life in prison without parole.
This isn’t the first time California has wrestled with the death penalty. Back in 1972, the state Supreme Court declared the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. It was reinstated through a voter approved ballot measure six years later.
This time backers of Prop. 34 are pointing …

Stories we are following today in the KCRW newsroom:
Deep pockets. A non-partisan group says more than $350 million has been spent on California’s 11 statewide ballot measures. Ironically, Proposition 32, a measure that aims to reduce the influence of campaign contributors on state politics, has drawn the most money: almost $132 million. Overall, the research organization MapLight says Prop. 32 and two competing tax …

If Proposition 33 sounds familiar, it should. The measure is almost identical to a statewide proposition that was narrowly defeated two years ago. And just as in 2010, the Yes campaign is funded almost entirely by George Joseph, the founder and chairman of Mercury Insurance.
Joseph wants to give California drivers the right to retain “loyalty discounts” when they renew their auto insurance, even if …