It’s crunch time, Election Weekend, and the mailboxes and TV are filled with political ads for Tuesday’s city election.
Thanks to the efforts and contributions of many, LA Clean Sweep has joined the party with a blitz of door hangers, mailers and cable TV ads in support of our slate of citizen candidates committed to fixing what they have broken.
Ziggy Kruse and Andre Campbell of Amending LA put this video together with KRLA talk show host Kevin James doing the voice over.
We’ve come a long way since last summer and no doubt have a long way to go to bringing a balance of power to city politics so whatever the outcome of Tuesday’s election, we will be gearing up to challenge City Hall’s follies day to day while recruiting and training candidates for 2013 when the mayor’s office and six City Council seats are open.
Unlike four years ago, every incumbent candidate is facing a challenge Tuesday and every vote will matter.
Rudy Martinez has a real chance to oust Jose Huizar in CD14 and Stephen Box, who has run a terrific campaign, can force Tom LaBonge into a runoff in CD4 with your help volunteering for precinct walking and phone banking over the weekend and getting your friends and neighbors to show up at the polls on Tuesday.
Even Mitch Englander, chief of staff and anointed successor to Greig Smith in CD12, is worried with his own poll showing him barely with a majority against Clean Sweep candidates Brad Smith and Kelly Lord and three other grassroots candidates.
Given the history of opponents of incumbents getting at least a third of the votes no matter who they are, there’s a chance for all the citizen candidates: Richard Goodman, David Barron and James Cordaro in CD6 against Tony Cardenas and Austin Dragon against Herb Wesson in CD10.
On the other side, Councilman Bernard Parks — the only Clean Sweep-backed incumbent — faces a tough challenge because of more than $600,000 being thrown at him by public employee unions because he, unlike his colleagues, has tried to be fiscally responsible.
Vote in records numbers on Tuesday and send City Hall a message.
