Parke Skelton

Two New Polls Show Dead Heat In Mayor's Race; But Are They Believable?

Today we have two new polls in the L.A. mayor's race, and both show Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel in a statistical dead heat.The Garcetti campaign dismissed the numbers, while the Greuel campaign embraced them as a sign that she has "momentum" following her second-place finish in the March 5 primar ... More >>

Laura Chick Throws Her Support Behind Ron Galperin For L.A. Controller, Passing Over Dennis Zine

If you judge strictly by fundraising, you'd have to say that Councilman Dennis Zine is the man to beat in the race to be the next L.A. city controller.But Ron Galperin, an attorney and onetime council candidate, is mounting a serious challenge. Though he has less than half the money that Zine does, ... More >>

Jackie Lacey And Alan Jackson Vie For District Attorney; Race Shapes Up As Referendum On Steve Cooley

For the first time since 1996, Steve Cooley is not on the ballot in the race for L.A. County District Attorney. But tomorrow's election is largely a referendum on his 12 years in office.His chosen successor, Jackie Lacey, has the backing of the police and political establishment. Her opponent, Alan ... More >>

Fact-Checking The Sherman-Berman Brawl: Howard Berman Deserves Credit For Early Sponsorship Of Dream Act

It seems almost beside the point to fact-check the altercation between Brad Sherman and Howard Berman yesterday. They could have been arguing about their favorite Valley hotdog stand -- the point is that Berman got in Sherman's face and Sherman lost his cool, grabbing the elder statesman around the ... More >>

Brad Sherman Grabs Howard Berman At Debate, Challenges Him To A Fight

Think Biden-Ryan was a hard-fought debate? Then you missed the Berman-Sherman brawl up in the Valley today.Congressman Brad Sherman put his arm around rival Congressman Howard Berman and challenged him to a fight, saying "Do you want to get into this?"A sheriff's deputy had to separate the two. The ... More >>

Jackie Lacey Takes Fundraising Lead In Campaign For District Attorney

Jackie Lacey has taken a solid lead in fundraising in the closing stretch of the campaign for L.A. County District Attorney.In filings posted this afternoon, Lacey reports raising $565,000 over the last three months. Her opponent, prosecutor Alan Jackson, reported $180,000.Lacey, the chief deputy D. ... More >>

Jackie Lacey Wins Key Police Endorsements In Race For D.A.

Jackie Lacey has already claimed an "insurmountable" polling advantage in the race for L.A. County District Attorney. Today, she added two key endorsements from the L.A. Police Protective League and the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs."This is a very important endorsement," Lacey said. "I ... More >>

D.A. Race: Jackie Lacey Claims "Insurmountable" Edge In Race To Succeed Steve Cooley

D.A. candidate Jackie Lacey claims to have an "insurmountable" lead over rival Alan Jackson in the November runoff, based on the findings of a poll released by her campaign today.The poll shows Lacey leading Jackson 26% to 13%, with the rest undecided. Lacey is the chief deputy D.A., and has the bac ... More >>

Bob Hertzberg Backs Wendy Greuel In Mayor's Race; Zev Yaroslavsky Backer Sets Sept. 15 Decision Deadline

Bob Hertzberg wrapped his big arms around Wendy Greuel today, metaphorically, endorsing her campaign to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.Hertzberg, the former Assembly speaker, finished third in the 2005 mayor's race -- and first in the Valley. So it's natural that he'd back a fellow Valley politici ... More >>

Brad Sherman Poll Shows 17-Point Lead Over Howard Berman; Berman Goes On Offense, Launches Attack Site

Rep. Brad Sherman released a poll today showing he has a 17-point lead in the November runoff against fellow Democratic rival Howard Berman.Sherman beat Berman by 10 points in the June primary. If he has any chance of turning that around, the more centrist Berman will have to score big with Republic ... More >>

Rusty Hicks, L.A. Labor Official, Trades Political Battles For War In Afghanistan

The L.A. County Federation of Labor has some major election battles coming up. There's the mayor's race in March, but even more important is the November campaign against Prop. 32, the "paycheck protection" initiative that threatens labor's ability to fund elections.But the Fed will be fighting thos ... 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 >>

D.A. Race: Carmen Trutanich Targets Jackie Lacey As Election Nears

A strategist for City Attorney Carmen Trutanich launched a broadside against Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey on Thursday night, accusing her of making a "swiftboat attack" in the campaign for D.A.John Shallman, Trutanich's strategist, appeared on Fox's Studio 11 L.A. He was asked about a ... More >>

Howard Berman's Last Stand

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 >>

In Debate, Brad Sherman Attacks Howard Berman On Iraq War, Trade and Super PACs

Brad Sherman: Throwing punches​The battle is now underway to determine which bald, Jewish Democrat who voted for the Iraq war will continue to represent the San Fernando Valley in Congress.At their first debate on Thursday night, Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman eagerly tore into each other, s ... More >>

Joe Buscaino Has Momentum In City Council Race, But Could Unions Give Warren Furutani A Chance?

​Tuesday update: The L.A. County Federation of Labor endorsed Furutani on Monday night, sharpening the biz-vs-labor narrative. More below.Joe Buscaino came from nowhere to win the most votes in last week's primary in the 15th Council District. Since then, the San Pedro cop been racking up endorsem ... More >>

Is Brad Sherman A Scientologist? Wikipedia Says Yes

​Brad Sherman is engaged in a political battle to the death with fellow Congressman Howard Berman. But over the last month, he's also been waging an epic struggle against some anonymous guy on Wikipedia.On Sept. 15, Mr. Anonymous changed Sherman's religion from Jewish to Scientologist. The new ver ... More >>

West Hollywood Incumbents Dig In

A surprisingly pitched City Council battle for control of a town without term limits

Dethroning West Hollywood's Martinets

Can five intriguing gay men upset the City Council's 26-year dynasty?

Michael Trujillo, Consultant to L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar, Axed Over Email Calling Challenger Rudy Martinez a 'Dead Rat'

Jose Huizar.​Update: Martinez's campaign says he has filed a police report and that the LAPD is investigating the threatening language in Trujillo's email. In the contentious battle for the city's Eastside council seat, things took a turn for the strange over the weekend as a campaign consult ... More >>

MTA Hid Report on Councilman Bernard Parks' Illegal Contributions

Nick Pacheco Employee Carlos Lira Says Fellow Workers Pressed to Contribute (Illegally) to Rudy Martinez's L.A. City Council Campaign

Rudy Martinez.​Updated after the jump: Nick Pacheco responds, says his firm did not reimburse employees and that the accuser has a history of retaliating against employers. A man who worked for Rudy Martinez supporter Nick Pacheco says the former city councilman's company had employees write ... More >>

Eastside L.A. City Council Candidate Rudy Martinez Had An LAPD Badge, But He Was Never A Police Officer

Rudy Martinez had a badge, but he was never a cop.​Rudy Martinez has come into the race for a powerful L.A. City Council seat like a breath of fresh air. Not only is he an outsider in a decidedly insider game, but he's a reality TV star (Flip This House) who's got his own money to put into the ... More >>

West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath, Appointed By Friends On Council, Illegally Used City Stamp, Listserv To Beg 2011 Campaign Support

WeHo NewsSilly ethics laws don't apply to the WeHo City Council's golden girl​New: Horvath's campaign manager explains that the listserv was a private (albeit gigantic) one. Updated after the jump with Horvath's public Facebook profile pic and more juicy links from the over-zealous editor of ... More >>

L.A. City Attorney Race: One Cooley Customer

The white-hot battle between Trutanich and Weiss

School Board Money Frenzy

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

Anti-Choice Mayor

A political machine squeezes out Tokofsky, Montañez and Fuentes, giving voters sanitized choices

Not So Fast

Herb Wesson’s cakewalk turns into a challenge

A New Age

Civic excitement in blasé L.A.

New Mayor, New City

Antonio can remake the city as he pleases — well, sort of

Winners and Losers

The Mayor Gets Squeezed

Why Jim Hahn may not survive the primary, and other mayoral dynamics

Gray in His Groove

Primary matters: The false spring of the Republican right, the real spring of the Democratic left

So Long, Mr. Mayor

Welcome, Mr. Long Shot, Bill Simon

Brave New City

At the end of the evening, it’s Antonio alone

Some Came Running

The 32nd District’s crowded track

Personality Politics

Choose one: Earnest or boisterous?

The Best School Board Money Can Buy

Reform is the reason, but there’s little rhyme to Riordan’s school slate

What’s Not To Like?