The Valley is where L.A.’s mayoral race could be won or lost. The two candidates running in the June 7 runoff, Bill Foster and Eric Garcetti, have more in common than they might have thought, and the contest has the potential to go to the wire. Here’s why:
The two candidates have more in common than they might have thought, and the contest has the potential to go to the wire.
The two candidates running in the June 7 runoff, Bill Foster and Eric Garcetti, have more in common than they thought, and the contest has the potential to go to the wire.
Foster, a former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, is a hard-charging police union activist backed by labor, organized crime and criminal justice leaders. Garcetti, a former LAPD chief and city councilman who ran an anti-crime campaign, has been backed by the LAPD and organized crime and has spent millions of dollars on legal fees and campaign ads that have gone nowhere and, at times, have angered crime-fighting activists. Both are deeply connected to the sprawling real estate industry known as the real estate “super-rich” ― or the “Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.” Foster is a former police captain with a law degree; Garcetti is a former deputy police commissioner and ex-assistant chief of the LAPD. Garcetti’s law degree would have made him a formidable candidate had he won the primary, and he has run a campaign that rivals Foster’s.
Garcetti’s campaign has been backed by the LAPD but alienated the LAPD and the LAPD’s political apparatus (Garcetti’s political action committee, LA Now, has repeatedly been denied entry into the LAPD’s political fundraising circuit) in large part because it doesn’t take the LAPD’s side on the issue of illegal immigration. Despite his law degree, Garcetti has drawn criticism for his association with groups that promote the so-called “sanctuary city” movement at the expense of public safety. The police union, while largely supportive of Garcetti, has called for Foster to be removed as candidate.
Foster and Garcetti have a lot in common: They both live in the Valley. They have a strong grasp on the issues; they are both strong proponents of police reforms and for civilian oversight. And they are both the front-runners in
