Bill Carrick

Traffic Experts Crap All Over Eric Garcetti's Million-Dollar Gridlock Prize

At Thursday's mayoral debate, Councilman Eric Garcetti suggested offering a $1 million prize to whoever can solve L.A.'s traffic problems.You might think that traffic experts would be excited about that. But you would be wrong."The solution to L.A.'s traffic problem is a political issue," said Marti ... More >>

Herb Wesson's Fiscal Commission Stacked With Wendy Greuel Supporters

L.A. Council President Herb Wesson today officially unveiled a new "L.A. 2020" Commission tasked with wading through L.A.'s finances and developing some recommendations to keep the city out of bankruptcy court.Though the commission's chair, Mickey Kantor, has said repeatedly that the commission will ... More >>

Los Angeles Mayoral Results: Eric Garcetti And Wendy Greuel Heading To May Runoff

Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel appear headed to a mayoral runoff in May, after taking the top two spots in Tuesday's primary election.With about 42% of precincts reporting, Garcetti had 34% of the vote to Greuel's 29%. The third place contender, Councilwoman Jan Perry, trailed ... More >>

Wendy Greuel And Eric Garcetti Headed To Mayoral Runoff, According To New Private Poll

A new private poll shows Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti advancing to a runoff in the race for L.A. mayor, with Greuel taking a slight lead ahead of the March 5 primary vote.The poll was paid for by a Greuel-friendly source who declined to be identified, and conducted by a profe ... More >>

Amid Ad Blitz For Wendy Greuel, Eric Garcetti Uses TV Debate To Attack

Amid a TV ad blitz for Wendy Greuel, rival candidate Eric Garcetti went on the attack at Monday night's televised debate, with just two weeks left before the March 5 primary.Garcetti challenged Greuel's numbers and repeatedly cited the $1 million in ad spending she has received from the union that r ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Makes A Play For Growing Latino Vote, But Turnout Is A Challenge

When Antonio Villaraigosa became the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles in modern times, he did it with record-breaking turnout from the Latino community. And since then, Latino voter registration has surged from 22% to about 29% of the city electorate.But without a major Latino candidate on the ball ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Bills Himself As A "Practical Problem Solver" In First TV Ad

Wendy Greuel had the airwaves to herself for two full weeks -- but no longer. Her chief rival in the race for L.A. mayor, Councilman Eric Garcetti, launched his own TV ad today, highlighting his record as a "practical problem solver" with "proven results." (Video after the jump.)The ad continue ... More >>

African-American Vote Looms Large In Race For L.A. Mayor

The candidates for L.A. mayor held their 423rd** debate last night, at Ward A.M.E. Church in South L.A. The event was feistier than most -- as Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel finally got to have their face-to-face clash over the $160 million in waste she claims to have uncovered.But it also gave a gl ... More >>

Two New Polls Offer Murky Picture Of L.A. Mayor's Race

Today we have two new polls of the L.A. mayor's race, with two different results. Both of them have some problems which make them less than totally reliable.The first is from Survey USA, a reputable polling firm that uses robocalls. It shows Councilman Eric Garcetti with an 8-point lead over Co ... More >>

Mayor's Race: Eric Garcetti Edges Wendy Greuel In Chase For Campaign Cash

Eric Garcetti has expanded his narrow lead over mayoral rival Wendy Greuel in the race for campaign cash.According to campaign filings released this evening, Garcetti raised $727,000 last quarter, beating out Greuel, who raised $672,000.Garcetti also has more money on hand, with $3.6 million in the ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Has Narrow Lead Over Wendy Greuel In New Private Poll

We were pretty skeptical when Fernando Guerra of Loyola Marymount University put out an "exit poll" showing Eric Garcetti with a lead over Wendy Greuel in the race for L.A. mayor. Guerra did not screen out unlikely voters, which made the results -- in our view -- unreliable.But now we have anot ... More >>

Mayor's Race: Wendy Greuel Joins Calls To "Let Emanuel Pleitez Debate!"

A few minutes into Saturday night's L.A. mayoral debate, a group of demonstrators stood up and demanded that outsider candidate Emanuel Pleitez be allowed to participate."Let Pleitez debate!" they chanted, as the KABC feed went to black. Though they were escorted out, Pleitez had a powerful all ... More >>

Mayor's Race: L.A. County Federation Of Labor Can't Decide Between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel

The L.A. County Federation of Labor, one of the biggest sources of power in L.A. elections, has decided not to endorse in the first round of the L.A. mayor's race, according to multiple sources.Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel are the two candidates with the strongest labor support. But neither could ... More >>

In Mayor's Race, Jan Perry Vows to Speak Truth To Union Power

Now that the election is over, it's finally time to focus on the race for L.A. mayor. What? Too soon? Well, tell that to Councilwoman Jan Perry, who kicked off her campaign with a speech in which she vowed to speak truth to the powerful public employee unions at City Hall."The truth is that we ... More >>

Wendy Greuel Leads In Private Poll Of Mayor's Race

Controller Wendy Greuel has a narrow lead among registered voters in the race for L.A. mayor, according to private polling results obtained by the L.A. Weekly.Greuel is out front with 20%, followed by Councilman Eric Garcetti at 16%, Councilwoman Jan Perry at 10% and former radio host Kevin James at ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Takes Narrow Fundraising Lead Over Wendy Greuel In Race For L.A. Mayor

Councilman Eric Garcetti has edged into a narrow fundraising lead over his top rival, Controller Wendy Greuel, in the race for L.A. mayor.The two candidates have been neck-and-neck all year. But in reports disclosed this afternoon, Garcetti announced that he had brought in $664,000 over the last thr ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Opens Mayor Campaign With Talk Of Jobs, Says Villaraigosa Staff Will Have To Reapply For Theirs

Councilman Eric Garcetti gave the first major speech of the L.A. mayoral campaign on Thursday night, vowing to nurture the city's tech sector and bring new accountability to City Hall.Garcetti spoke in broad themes, and offered relatively little in the way of concrete proposals. He did, however, sig ... More >>

With Zev Yaroslavsky Out Of Mayor's Race, Wendy Greuel And Eric Garcetti Dial For Supporters

As soon as Zev Yaroslavsky bowed out of the race for mayor Thursday morning, top contenders Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti started working the phones in a mad scramble to pick up his supporters.By the end of the day on Friday, both campaigns had picked up some converts. Greuel claimed a longer list, ... More >>

Mayoral Candidate Eric Garcetti Can Now Afford Two TV Commercials

Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti announced this morning that he has raised $2.2 million, planting his fundraising flag in advance of next week's reporting deadline.Garcetti'is top rival, Wendy Greuel, may not file her report until Monday. They were essentially tied at the Dec. 31 deadline, and Greuel ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich Was the Front-Runner in the DA's Race — Until He Failed to Even Make the Runoff. What Went Wrong?

Democratic War for L.A.'s Richest

Betsy Butler and Torie Osborn woo the carbon-counting strata of Assembly District 50

Councilman Eric Garcetti Throws Out The First Ball At Polo Fundraiser

Councilman Eric Garcetti, a candidate for L.A. mayor, has been on a fundraising tear lately. He had an event at Moby's house. He had one with Jimmy Kimmel. In a couple weeks, he'll have one with (OMG OMG OMG) Howard Dean.But it'll be hard to top the event he had on Sunday at a polo match at Will Rog ... More >>

Cerrell Mayoral Debates Canceled; Eric Garcetti And Wendy Greuel Cite Scheduling Problems

​Last December, Cerrell & Associates announced a series of six mayoral debates, set to begin this month. The debates -- they actually called them "conversations" -- were to focus on a series of issues, and would have been the first opportunity to take a substantive measure of the field.So much ... More >>

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Rakes in More Than $1 Million in D.A. Race

​Updated below. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will announce this week that he has raised more than $1 million in the race for L.A. County District Attorney.Trutanich has a commanding fundraising advantage, though he has still not officially declared his candidacy. His nearest competitor is prosec ... More >>

Wendy Greuel Raises $1.1 Million For Mayor's Bid; Eric Garcetti Close Behind

​Updated. Controller Wendy Greuel announced today that she has raised a total of $1.11 million in the 2013 race for L.A. mayor, giving her a slim advantage over Councilman Eric Garcetti.Garcetti announced today that he had raised $1.06 million since joining the race in September. Greuel launched h ... More >>

Kinde Durkee Scandal: Sen. Dianne Feinstein Warns Off Opponents With $5 Million Check

Sen. Dianne Feinstein​Sen. Dianne Feinstein is digging into her own pocket to warn off potential opponents who might think she's vulnerable because of the Kinde Durkee campaign finance scandal.Feinstein intends to write herself a check for $5 million, according to strategist Bill Carrick, confirmi ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Makes It Official: He's Running For Mayor

Eric Garcetti​Update 3:14 p.m.: Zev Yaroslavsky will jump in "sooner rather than later."Councilman Eric Garcetti announced this morning that he's running for mayor.Garcetti's entry into the race has been expected for months, and the chatter had been picking up lately that he would announce soon af ... More >>

Kinde Durkee, Democratic Treasurer Accused Of Pocketing Campaign Funds, Did Not Have Liability Insurance

Kinde Durkee​Democratic operatives are still trying to assess the financial damage left by Kinde Durkee -- the campaign treasurer who is accused of taking campaign funds for her personal use.The FBI alleges she took nearly $700,000 from Assemblyman Jose Solorio. But Durkee did the books for hundre ... More >>

Zev Yaroslavsky Will Replace Antonio Villaraigosa as Mayor, Experts Predict

If Zev runs, he’s the man to beat in 2013

Veteran Political Consultant Kam Kuwata Found Dead At Home

Kam Kuwata​Updated below with comments from former Mayor Jim Hahn at 1:56 p.m. Kam Kuwata, a veteran political consultant who worked for Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former L.A. Mayor Jim Hahn, has died. He was 57.Kuwata was found dead in his condominium on Main Street in Venice at about 9 a.m. this ... More >>

John D'Amico, West Hollywood Non-Incumbent, Wins Historic First Seat in City Council Race; Heilman, Land Close Behind

PHOTO BY JENNIE WARRENJohn D'Amico: The WeHovians' choice.​BREAKING NEWS: West Hollywood City Council frontrunner John D'Amico made history today, when -- after a final count of 757 provisional and absentee ballots -- he surpassed two decades-old incumbents and pushed out their pet appointee f ... More >>

West Hollywood 2011 City Council Election: Vote Not Completed, Abbe Land, John D'Amico and John Heilman in Lead

​Update: New figures and analysis on WeHo City Council race. Since approximately 930 provisional ballots still need to be verified and counted, the hotly contested West Hollywood City Council race cannot be called tonight. So far, 522 votes separate first place Councilwoman Abbe Land from ... More >>

Greens Vs. Big Oil and Prop. 23

To save California's global-warming law, a 23-year-old finds his rage — and 60,000 friends

Villaraigosa's Vanishing Veracity

His executive directive No. 1 in 2005 vowed to halt even the appearance of sleaze and conflicts

Is Cooley Too Moderate to Win?

In the fight for attorney general, opposing prison for sock stealers is a liability

Proposition 14, the Open Primary

What happens to ossified Sacramento if California voters get to shop around?

Bill Bratton's Endorsements Spectacle

The LAPD chief's politicking has critics fearing a slide to the bad old days

Villaraigosa and Solar Measure B Get Burned

March 3 was supposed to be a romp for the L.A. mayor, not a reprimand

The Greek Versus the Pixie: Can Upstart Nick Patsaouras Beat the Anointed Villaraigosa Insider Wendy Greuel?

Greuel's long-planned bid to become the new Laura Chick looked like a cakewalk. But that was before the economy tanked

Obama Taps East L.A. Congresswoman Hilda Solis for Labor Post

The Wall Street Journal reported that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen California Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis as his Labor Secretary. "Like most Democrats, she is pro-labor," says political consultant Bill Carrick. "You would have a hell of a story if Barack Obama appointed someone anti-labor ... More >>

Schwarzenegger Elevates Former Mayor Hahn

Judge Jimmy's 'rehabilitation' is now complete

Running Like Bushes

The Hahn campaign is modeled on Karl Rove’s and Lee Atwater’s greatest hits

Huggy Hertzberg

Smart and out to break up L.A. Unified, this Valley guy wants to touch every voter in L.A.

A Capricious Fate

School-board president loses race she was supposed to win

City Without a Story

Quick, Now: What's L.A.'s Story?

The Era of Bad Feelings

Jim Hahn sets a city against itself, and comes out on top

Early Aspirations

City attorney seeks to pre-empt mayoral field

Out With the Old

Riordan makes good on vow to topple incumbents

The Mayor Plays Hardball

Riordan gets his charter, and it’s not pretty

The Last Liberal

Barbara Boxer's toughest campaign