POLITICS LA - With the city elections in Los Angeles just over a week away, I have been getting asked by a lot of our readers whether I think it is possible for there ever to be another Republican Mayor of California’s largest city.
The answer is — it depends. It depends on whether Republicans voters turn out to support the only Republican candidate for Mayor, Kevin James.
The latest polling results show that if registered Republicans in Los Angeles turn out on March 5, candidate Kevin James will have a very likely shot at making it to the run-off, beating out the bulk of a field of liberal Democrat candidates.
Oh wait, you haven’t read that in the Los Angeles Times? That’s because the main stream media has written him off. George Skelton and his Merry Band of Conventional Wisdom Columnists say we’re the bluest of blue states and that there aren’t enough Republican voters left in California to matter.
But look at Kevin James’ position in the race for mayor of L.A. James started off in nearly last place, but in a short amount of time, he’s now knocking on the door of a 2nd-place finish and a place in the run-off election. The two candidates responsible for the city’s current situation — City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel — are the favorites among liberal voters. But study the cross-tabs from the recent Survey USA poll and you’ll see that James is tied with Greuel for first place among moderate and independent voters.
And here’s the part that George Skelton and the Democrats don’t want you to know: the cross-tabs show that if just 6 out of 10 Republican voters cast their votes for the only Republican in the race, James, he’ll coast through the primary into the run-off election. So Republican voters hold the key to making sure James isn’t just knocking at the door of 2nd place, but that he opens it up and makes it through to the run-off.
Right now, James is of course far in the lead among Republican voters, at 33 percent. But 22 percent of Republican voters currently say they will vote for Greuel and 20 percent say they’ll vote for Garcetti. The only possible explanation for that is that voters don’t realize there’s a Republican running for the Mayor’s Office, and they don’t understand exactly how liberal both Garcetti and Greuel actually are. (If you need a refresher, just check out their respective endorsements for Garcetti here and for Greuel here).
If you need any proof that Democrats know the key role that Republican voters can play in such a splintered race, look no further than slate cards — GOP slate cards. Here is an image of a mailer that has gone out to GOP voters advising them that Eric Garcetti would somehow “continue the Republican revolution” — which is a lie. Unscrupulous slate vendors like this one are working hard to make sure that there is no Republican in the run-off. I hope that every Republican who gets this is as offended as me.
If we get the word out — outside the confines of the mainstream media — then James has a real shot at the run-off, where an ultimate victory is very possible.
And why should we vote for Kevin James? Easy.
• James is the only Republican in the race for mayor of LA. Don’t believe the dishonest Democrat campaign hacks sending you mail saying anyone else is a Republican. • James was a prosecutor who has consistently railed against public employee unions for pushing LA to the brink of bankruptcy. • James was endorsed by former Mayor (and Republican) Richard Riordan, who said he’s the only candidate capable of standing up to union bosses. • This is a great fight for the Republican Party. It will show that we can put up viable candidates and it will put the 2012 losses behind us.
Do you realize that four years ago Villaraigosa won the Mayor’s Office with just 154,000 votes? In a city of 1.5 million people that’s abysmal. Los Angeles is notorious for low voter turnout. The voting experts are predicting the same thing this time around — voter turnout less than 1 in 5 registered voters. That means Republicans have the power to truly influence this election.
So, don’t listen to the media, pay attention to the numbers. Kevin James can make it through to the run-off for Los Angeles mayor. If he doesn’t, it will be Republicans’ fault for not getting out there to vote.
Let’s send the Editorial Board at the LA Times, and the rest of the media intelligentsia a message by getting Kevin James through this mayoral primary and into the general election.
After twelve years of liberal Democrats running the City of the Angels right up to the edge of a fiscal cliff, Republicans need to rally to elect a Mayor who will bring sanity back to the office.
(Jon Fleischman is the editor of Flashreport where this piece was first posted. It was also posted at FoxandHoundsDaily.com)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 17
Pub: Feb 26, 2013
