CD4 Election: Fourteen Candidates and their Statements

Been barraged lately with phone calls from candidates, flyers in the mailbox, and emails in your inbox? Yes, the Council District 4 (CD4) primary election is now just around the corner, scheduled for March 3, 2105, to fill the seat that Councilman Tom La Bonge will soon vacate. 

Calling it “Los Angeles’ most unpredictable election of the year”, the LA Times‘ Emily Alpert Reyes wrote yesterday that sprawling CD4 includes some of LA’s most affluent and politically engaged neighborhoods. Given that fourteen, yes 14, candidates make up the field of contenders, and a primary election usually draws a weak public turnout,  it’s very possible candidates with even less than 20% of the vote may make it to the runoff election.

“A candidate who can turn out a small group of passionate voters with a particular issue, or by a particular neighborhood, is in a much better position than one who tries to appeal more broadly,” said Dan Schnur, executive director of USC’s Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics told the LA Times. This could factor into election results easily given the strange parameters of CD 4 which includes much of the greater Hancock Park area, parts of Mid-City, Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills, the Valley, Los Feliz, and Sherman Oaks.

The LA Times also published photos of and statements from the candidates yesterday which is a helpful guide in getting to know who is who.

Area residents will also have an opportunity to see many of the candidates up close in a CD4 Caucus sponsored by the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Association and the Mid City West Community Council on Sunday, Feb 8, 2015 from 11 am – 1 pm. Hold the date on your calendar – more information to follow.

LA Times: Candidates for LA City Council District 4

LA Times: Candidates vying for Tom LaBonge’s seat try to break out of the pack