John Shallman

Wednesday Attack Ad Round-Up: Three New Spots Slam Mayoral Candidates in English and en Español

We're already getting a little nostalgic for the L.A. mayor's race, which will be over next Tuesday. Call us crazy, but we think we'll miss the attack ads the most. There's just something compelling about seeing fundamentally decent public servants portray each other as child-killing monsters.Today ... More >>

Friday Attack Ad Roundup: Garcetti Slammed Over Occupy L.A., Greuel Camp Threatens Lawsuit

Mic check! Finally, someone has dragged (finally, someone has dragged...) Occupy L.A. into the race for mayor. In a web-only video released today, the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce attacked Eric Garcetti for inviting the Occupy movement to "stay as long as you need to" on the City Hall lawn back in ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich Was Knocked Down. Can He Get Back Up?

Humiliated in the DA's race, "Nuch" is trying to hold onto his job as City Attorney

Garcetti and Greuel's Worst Days in Power

Setting aside promises, how have they behaved?

Wendy Greuel Slams Kevin James In Attack Mailer, But Courted Him For Weeks In Text Exchange

Wendy Greuel's mayoral campaign has launched an attack on Eric Garcetti with direct mail targeted at the African-American and Latino communities. In two similar mailers, the Greuel campaign highlights Garcetti's endorsement from white Republican Kevin James, who finished third in the March 5 primary ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Has One-Point Lead in Mayor's Race, According To DWP Union's New Poll

Eric Garcetti has a one-point lead in the race for L.A. mayor, according to a new poll issued by Working Californians, the DWP union-backed campaign supporting Wendy Greuel.The poll found Garcetti leading 39% to Greuel's 38%, with 23% still undecided. The margin of error is 3.7%.The Greuel campaign ... More >>

Survey USA Brings The Noise: New Robo-poll Has Wendy Greuel Up 3 Points

You may have seen the new Survey USA robo-poll out this morning, which purports to show Wendy Greuel up three points in the race for L.A. mayor. We're getting tired of trashing Survey USA, but this poll may get more attention than most, because it shows a violent, 12-point swing in Greuel's dir ... More >>

Wendy Greuel TV Ad Attacks Eric Garcetti's Support For Digital Billboards, Which She Also Voted For

Wendy Greuel launched a TV attack ad this morning, faulting her rival in the race for L.A. mayor for his support for a controversial settlement allowing hundreds of digital billboards.However, Greuel also voted for the 2006 settlement with Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor when the issue came be ... More >>

Bad Blood Lingers Despite Settlement Between Carmen Trutanich and Former Campaign Consultant

L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has settled his bitter legal battle with John Shallman, the campaign consultant who ran his failed bid for district attorney.The dispute got so bad that at one point, Shallman called Trutanich "the Kim Jong-Il of L.A. politics." He claimed the city attor ... More >>

Why Wendy Greuel's Campaign Stumbled: Recent Shake-up Reveals Aides' Power Struggle

Wendy Greuel entered the UCLA Faculty Center last week to Alicia Keys' soaring anthem "Girl On Fire." But after two years of campaigning for mayor, and a disappointing second-place finish in the March 5 primary, Greuel was still trying to light a spark. In her speech, she vowed she would break ... 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 >>

Los Angeles City Attorney Primary Election Results: Mike Feuer and Carmen Trutanich to Face Each Other May 21

Mike Feuer appeared to widen his lead 43 percent to 32 percent over Carmen Trutanich for Los Angeles City Attorney, and the two now look good to face one another in the May 21 runoff. Wealthy litigator Greg Smith was far behind them with 16 percent. Environmental attorney Noel Weiss was in fourth pl ... More >>

Wendy Greuel's Oil Attack Comes From Strategist John Shallman's Playbook

It's getting into the final days of the primary campaign for L.A. mayor, which means it's time for the campaigns to start slinging whatever mud they can find.Today, Controller Wendy Greuel held a press conference to attack Eric Garcetti for holding a Venoco oil lease in Beverly Hills that pays him $ ... More >>

Wendy Greuel Attacks Eric Garcetti In New Radio Ad; TV Ads Picking Up In Campaign's Final Week

Update below: Check out Kevin James' latest video, and an Eric Garcetti radio ad.Controller Wendy Greuel launched a new radio ad today in the increasingly contentious race for L.A. mayor, attacking Councilman Eric Garcetti for taking "luxury trips around the world" on the taxpayer's dime.The spot (a ... More >>

Eric Garcetti And Wendy Greuel Duel Over Budget Numbers

Councilman Eric Garcetti kept the focus on Wendy Greuel's plan to hire 2,000 cops and 1,000 firefighters today, arguing that his chief opponent in the campaign for L.A. mayor is making promises she can't keep."Independent analysis shows the numbers simply don't add up," Garcetti said this afternoon. ... More >>

Wendy Greuel Unveils $417 Million Plan To Hire Cops And Firefighters; Plan Relies On Rosy Projections

Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel unveiled a $417 million plan this morning to hire 2,000 new police officers and 1,000 new firefighters by 2020.Greuel said she would pay for the additional hires by setting aside a quarter of the projected revenue increases over the next several years. However, the pla ... 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 >>

Mike Feuer Announces Fundraising Totals, Claims "Front-Runner Status" In City Attorney Bid

Mike Feuer, a candidate for L.A. city attorney, raised about $96,000 last quarter, bringing his total war chest to $1.2 million, his campaign announced today.Feuer is seeking to unseat incumbent Carmen Trutanich, who got a late start in fundraising due to his failed bid for district attorney. As of ... More >>

Mayor's Race: Eric Garcetti And Wendy Greuel Both Fall Short In Bid For Democratic Endorsement

Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel campaigned their hearts out, but in the end the L.A. County Democratic Party decided not to endorse either one in the race for L.A. mayor.At tonight's endorsement meeting, neither candidate could muster the 60% of delegates required to secure the endorsement.Both sides ... More >>

Mayor's Race: Wendy Greuel And Eric Garcetti Skirmish Over Cellphones

The New Year is upon us, which means that the candidates for L.A. mayor can finally stop being nice and start sending nasty press releases about each other.Controller Wendy Greuel kicked things off this morning with a press conference announcing that she was demanding five years worth of city cellph ... 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 >>

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, Candidate For L.A. City Attorney, Injured In Car Crash

Update: More detail below. Feuer is in ICU, suffered lacerated spleen and broken ribs.Assemblyman Mike Feuer, who is running for L.A. city attorney, has been hospitalized after a car crash this afternoon.According to his campaign, Feuer was on his way to the swearing-in ceremony for D.A. Jackie Lace ... More >>

Memo Fallout: John Shallman Calls Carmen Trutanich "The Kim Jong-Il of L.A. Politics"

Grab some popcorn, because Carmen Trutanich and John Shallman are fighting again. Shallman, you'll recall, is the political consultant who steered Trutanich's D.A. campaign onto the rocks. Trutanich is the city attorney now suing Shallman to avoid paying $165,000 in bills leftover from that campaign ... More >>

Bob Hertzberg Accuses Carmen Trutanich Of "Thuggery" Over Campaign Finance Lawsuit

Earlier this week, former controller Laura Chick went after City Attorney Carmen Trutanich for being "a liar and a demagogue." Today, it's Bob Hertzberg's turn to take a few swings.In an interview with the Weekly, Hertzberg accused Trutanich of "thuggery" for filing a lawsuit against his former camp ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich Files Paperwork For Re-election Bid; Poll Shows He Has To Work To Restore Image

We thought we'd make it to the weekend without doing another Carmen Trutanich post, but it was not to be. This afternoon, Trutanich announced that he has pulled papers to run for re-election as city attorney.Trutanich has retained the services of Rick Taylor, a lobbyist and occasional political cons ... More >>

John Shallman Dumps Carmen Trutanich, Will Work For Mike Feuer In City Attorney Race

John Shallman, the campaign strategist who ran Carmen Trutanich's failed bid for district attorney, said today he had severed his ties with Trutanich, and will run his opponent's campaign for city attorney.Trutanich is up for re-election as city attorney in March. In an interview with the Weekly, Sh ... More >>

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

The 5 Biggest Losers From Carmen Trutanich's D.A. Debacle (Other Than Trutanich)

The county updated its vote tally this afternoon, and it confirmed what we already knew: Carmen Trutanich crashed and burned on Tuesday night. With 59,000 extra ballots counted, Trutanich's margin of defeat is unchanged. He's still in third by 8,000 votes, and only 117,000 votes remain to be counted ... More >>

In A Shocker, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Looks Beaten In District Attorney's Race

Update, 2 p.m.: Mike Feuer signals he is not dropping his bid for city attorney, which may mean the end of Nuch's career at City Hall East. More below.The crowd at the Croatian American Club of San Pedro watched the election returns Tuesday night in a state of shock and disbelief, as hometown hero C ... More >>

Caught in a Fib, Carmen Trutanich Concocts Conspiracy Charge Against D.A.'s Office

Update, Thursday: Attorney general declines to investigate. More below.D.A. candidate Carmen Trutanich was caught last week in a fib about being shot at by gang members when he was a young prosecutor in 1985. The L.A. Times' Jack Leonard discovered that in fact, there were no gang members, and no gu ... More >>

Tough-Talking Carmen Trutanich Softens His Image, Tacks To The Left In D.A. Campaign

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has avoided debating his rivals in the race for district attorney, leaving a big question mark about where he stands on public safety issues.As the June 5 primary approaches, Trutanich is starting to fill in the blanks. In a 17-page "Blueprint for Justice," the tough-t ... More >>

Prosecutor Alan Jackson Sues To Block Carmen Trutanich From Calling Himself "Chief Prosecutor"

​Prosecutor Alan Jackson, a candidate for district attorney, filed a lawsuit this morning to prevent rival candidate Carmen Trutanich from calling himself "Los Angeles Chief Prosecutor" on the June ballot.Trutanich claims that his job as L.A. city attorney entitles him to use the "chief prosecutor ... 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 >>

Carmen Trutanich A No-Show At District Attorney's Debate, As Six Prosecutors Spar For The Top Job

Carmen Trutanich: Uninvited?​The race for L.A. County District Attorney has been a quiet affair up to this point. The leading fundraiser, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, hasn't even officially declared. Meanwhile, the declared candidates -- half a dozen prosecutors -- are mostly unknown to the gen ... More >>

Will Janice Hahn Run For The "Black" Seat After Redistricting?

Janice Hahn​Newly minted Rep. Janice Hahn faces a tough choice if she wants to stay in Congress for more than a year. By the looks of the latest redistricting maps, she will be drawn into a coastal district that also includes Rep. Henry Waxman.Waxman has been in Congress for 36 years, and is as cl ... More >>

Janice Hahn's Mother Dies on the Eve of L.A. Councilwoman's Congressional Election Bout

Janice Hahn.​Update: See statements from Janice Hahn's council office and campaign at the bottom. On the eve of her election day bout for a South Bay Congressional seat, L.A. city Councilwoman Janice Hahn has learned that her mother Ramona has died at the age of 86, campaign staffers confirme ... More >>

D.A. Steve Cooley Retires, Endorses Jackie Lacey As Successor

Steve Cooley​Updated at 3:08 p.m. District Attorney Steve Cooley will retire next year after serving three terms in office.In a letter to supporters, Cooley is endorsing his chief deputy, Jackie Lacey, to succeed him in next year's election. Cooley's retirement has been widely anticipated since he ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich Forms Committee To Run For District Attorney

Carmen Trutanich​Updated at 7:39 p.m. with Trutanich's campaign manager taking some swings at D.A. rival Alan Jackson. L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich filed paperwork today to begin his campaign for L.A. District Attorney. According to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder's office, Trutanich sub ... More >>

Union-Backed LAUSD Candidates Accuse UTLA President A.J. Duffy Of Coercing Them To Drop Out

A.J. Duffy​Updated below at 7:32 p.m. with UTLA response.Two union-backed school board candidates are accusing UTLA President A.J. Duffy of coercing them to drop out of the race, after background checks turned up legal and financial issues.Jesus Escandon agreed to drop out, but only after Duffy ma ... More >>

Trutanich Eyes DA's Post

District attorney slams L.A. city attorney for political job-shopping

Is Bernard Parks In Trouble? Fundraiser Warns of Labor Clout

Forescee Hogan-Rowles​Compared to the slugfest in Council District 14, the race in District 8 has gotten relatively little attention. Bernard Parks is generally seen as a safe bet to win his third term.But this one could be a sleeper. Forescee Hogan-Rowles picked up two endorsements last week from ... More >>

Trutanich Eyes District Attorney's Post

The L.A. city attorney surprises DA Cooley with possible candidacy

When Will John Shallman Sue Laura Richardson?

Laura Richardson, credit risk​Political consultant John Shallman sued L.A. Councilman Bernard Parks last week, alleging that he is owed nearly $150,000 from Parks' unsuccessful 2008 race for the Board of Supervisors.So when will Shallman sue Rep. Laura Richardson? Richardson, best known for her se ... More >>

School Board Money Frenzy

Massive cash gushing into campaigns backed by Villaraigosa could outdo the $2.3 million raised by Riordan

This Just In: Voters Snookered

One day after approval of so-called Big Reform measure, lobbyists remain in power at City Hall

Down to Size

Bobzilla’s dream breaks up in the Valley of fog

A Capricious Fate

School-board president loses race she was supposed to win

What Goes Around

How Tony Cardenas lost his bid for City Council