L.A. on the Record: Why people didn’t vote in the primary

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record, our local elections newsletter. It’s Ben Oreskes, back from vacation and ready to rumble. Dakota Smith pitched in this week.

Turnout in the June primary election in Los Angeles hovered around 30%. It says something about the state of engagement in Los Angeles that we saw that as a success.

The figure was up from 20% in the 2017 primary, when Mayor Eric Garcetti won reelection with 81% of the vote. Moving to even-numbered years and the uniqueness of this cycle — with an open mayoral seat and hot-button issues like homelessness and abortion in the conversation — probably had something to do with the jump.

Turnout ranged wildly by region as well — as high as 41.7% on the Westside and as low as 20.5% in South L.A.

As part of our latest poll with the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, we asked respondents who didn’t vote in the primary to tell us why. The plurality of non-voters (26%) said they “didn’t know enough about the candidates,” and the next most common response given, at 20%, was “other.”

The responses that followed had to do with lack of excitement about the race. About 15% of voters either said they were too busy or didn’t have time, or that “none of the candidates excited” them.

Of the 25% of the poll’s respondents who said they didn’t vote, 61% were between the ages of 18 and 39. Non-voters tended to be poorer and have less education. These numbers give elected officials, policymakers and even reporters something to think about as we strive to get more people interested in local politics.

Our polling from across the state was unspooled this week. It has fascinating insights about voters’ views on the drought, abortion, Gov. Gavin Newsom, President Biden, Sheriff Alex Villanueva and, last but not least, Karen Bass/Rick Caruso.

I wrote Friday about the state of the mayor’s race, where Bass has a big lead over Caruso. One tidbit left on the cutting room floor is how the fates of Caruso and Villanueva and the fates of Bass and former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna appear somewhat linked.

There’s a strong correlation between Bass supporters and Luna, who is challenging the scandal-plagued sheriff. Almost three-quarters of respondents supporting Luna backed Bass, with just 10% undecided. Of the Villanueva supporters, Caruso gets 60% support, with 15% undecided.

Luna is up 4% over the incumbent right now. So it will be interesting to see how the messaging of the sheriff’s candidates and that of the mayoral candidates dovetail as we head toward the election.

State of play

— FUN TAKE: San Francisco Chronicle columnist Joe Garofoli writes: “Some top [Democratic] party officials are ticked that Caruso is using his bottomless well of cash to implicate fellow Democrats in a series of campaign ads that have been carpet-bombing Southern California for months.”

— WHAT’S COMING THIS FALL: “Caruso has a new opportunity, as well as the money to unleash whatever strategy he and his team deem best. The counter, of course, is that Bass connected with voters in the first stage, and she, too, has room to build,” writes Jon Regardie for Los Angeles Magazine. “The summer has been a muted battle, but the war runs for another 75 days — and it certainly feels like things are about to explode.”

— SEE YOU IN 2024: The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to send a measure to the ballot in 2024 to speed up the installation of bike routes, bus lanes and other transportation projects aimed at making the city safer and more welcoming for bicyclists, pedestrians and bus riders.

And in non-campaign news ...

— UNSEATED: A judge barred former Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson on Monday from returning to City Hall as a temporary fill-in for Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas for at least two months, leaving his South Los Angeles district without a voting representative. On Thursday, Wesson resigned.

City Council President Nury Martinez and four other council members support putting Heather Hutt, the district caretaker, in the temporary voting role. Other members want city departments to look at “all options” before filling the seat.

— NOT LYING LOW: Ridley-Thomas was indicted last October on corruption charges, which he denies. His corruption trial is three months away. In the meantime, though, he popped up this week alongside several politicians to celebrate Metro’s forthcoming K, or Crenshaw, Line. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell posted a photo that showed Ridley-Thomas, Garcetti and others posing together. “As a standard courtesy, Metro invites all current and former Metro Board members to these types of events,” said Metro spokesman Dave Sotero.

— PHEW: City Atty. Mike Feuer, who dropped out of the mayor’s race in May, is not being investigated by the U.S. attorney’s office over the scandal involving the city attorney’s office and the Department of Water and Power. That’s according to a letter released this week that was written by Asst. U.S. Atty. Mack E. Jenkins to Feuer’s attorney Richard Drooyan.

Two attorneys associated with Feuer’s office, including a former high-ranking city attorney, have pleaded guilty in the scheme.

Feuer likely wishes this letter could have been released when he was running in the mayor’s race. In April, The Times asked Feuer’s office whether Feuer had been told he was a target in the investigation, and the answer back was: “He has neither been told he is or isn’t.”

Meanwhile, California State Bar complaints have also been filed over actions related to the legal scheme. City attorney’s office spokesman Rob Wilcox also told The Times this week that that the “State Bar has not given any indication to Mr. Feuer that he is under investigation. It hasn’t asked Mr. Feuer any questions about his conduct.”

The Newsom dance

Gov. Gavin Newsom announces the latest round of awards for homeless housing projects on Aug. 24 in Los Angeles. Behind him are Karen Bass; Jason Pu, HUD regional administrator; and, at right, Eric Garcetti.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

We’ve previously explored the perks that come from running for elected office once you’re already in one. The sheer coincidence wasn’t lost on anyone when Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge appeared beside Bass days before the June primary.

That event, spokespeople of various stripes went to great lengths to convey, happened with Bass acting in her official capacity as congresswoman for the 37th District.

This week, we saw Newsom pay a visit to her district to promote the awarding of more money to buy buildings that can house homeless people. Known as Project Homekey, it’s one of the great successes of government intervention during the pandemic. That latest round of funding spread $694 million to “35 projects that will create more than 2,500 new units in 19 communities throughout the state,” according to a release from the governor’s office.

Flanked by Bass and Garcetti, Newsom talked up the role of state and federal partners. Then Garcetti, who hasn’t endorsed Bass, showered her with praise as well.

After all these kind words, it raises the question of why the governor hasn’t endorsed in this race. Previously, Garcetti has said he likely won’t.

So I asked Newsom, who has taken on a role of going to the mat for Democrats nationally, why he hadn’t joined the long list of local and national Democrats to endorse Bass.

“I’m trying to stay out of these Dem-on-Dem races as a rule,” he said, noting that he has a long history with both Bass and Caruso and that he considers each a friend.

He also said he was grateful they both backed his new effort to provide court-ordered treatment for homeless individuals with severe mental illness.

“I have great respect for the congresswoman. I think you heard that, and I’ve known Rick Caruso for years and years and years, and I’ll just leave it at that.”

Quick hits

• Who’s running the city? Still Eric Garcetti. His confirmation as ambassador to India awaits a Senate vote.

• The latest in mayoral endorsements: Hospitality and service workers from Unite Here Local 11 and SEIU-United Service Workers West (USWW) both endorsed Bass.
  
• And other city endorsements: The Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County Action Fund, SEIU Local 121RN, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 12 , Southern District Council of Laborers LIUNA, and Laborers Local 300 and the Engineers and Architects Assn. endorsed Hydee Feldstein Soto for city attorney. Former City Controller Wendy Greuel backed Councilman Paul Koretz for her old job. State Treasurer Fiona Ma, City Controller Ron Galperin, IBEW Local 18, SEIU Local 121 Nurses and Healthcare Workers, and the Plumbers, Pipefitters and Welders Local 761 endorsed Traci Park for Council District 11. Former Gov. Gray Davis has backed Katy Yaroslavsky for Council District 5. The Santa Monica Firefighters Union, IAFF Local 1109 and the United Nurses Assns. of California/Union of Health Care Professionals endorsed state Sen. Bob Hertzberg for county supervisor. The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 92 backed Tim McOsker in Council District 15.
  

(If you have an endorsement you’d like to flag for next week, please send it to us.)

• Dig of the week: “While Villanueva has anointed himself the most transparent sheriff in the department’s history, the truth is that he and officials under him routinely resort to obfuscation when dealing with me and other journalists seeking information about the inner workings of the department.” — Times staff writer Alene Tchekmedyian on what it’s like to cover the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.