Part 85: The March 2024 Elections in Los Angeles – Political Legitimacy and Power Politics
Published March 6, 2024.
Photo of Aura Vásquez and Tyson Baker with a get-out-the-vote sound truck with campaign posters taped to the sides by author (GoPro Hero 11 Black).
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By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist
The news coverage had started to blur together, just about every journalist in Los Angeles couldn’t help but mention the LA Fed Tapes scandal. It just rolled off the tongue, people are still shocked to learn that the closed door meeting secretly recorded on October 18, 2021 as the Los Angeles City Council prepared to suspend Mark Ridley-Thomas and plot out a redistricting scheme that would benefit Latino voting power. More than a year plus after this audio leak, both the source of the Tapes and their meaning remains under “review” by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the State Attorney General’s Office is still investigating.
What George Gascón and Rob Bonta do next is anyone’s guess. Both were heavily involved in election day, with Gascón sitting atop a field of challengers despite being the curse word on just about everyone’s breath within the center-right political establishment. Bonta too couldn’t help himself even as his Office continues to investigate whether the lines used yesterday for voting in seven LA City Council races are actually fairly drawn making multiple political endorsements making political endorsements including for Miguel Santiago in east side Los Angeles City Council District 14 against incumbent Kevin de León whose participating in the racist recording is still widely condemned.
Attorney General Bonta posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on March 2 in support of Santiago and Mark Gonzalez for California State Assembly a picture of himself with the pair: “It’s GOTV weekend! Be sure to vote for @MiguelForLA for LA City Council and @MarkJGonzalezLA for CA State Assembly!” after making his announcement as noted by Santiago on February 16 with a quote reading: “Miguel has been a bold, innovative and effective leader who delivers for his constituents.” Asked for comment about the LA Fed Investigation, the State Attorney General’s Office told me that “To protect its integrity, we’re unable to comment on an ongoing investigation.” Apparently it’s okay to endorse people running elections against people you’re supposed to be investigating?
Los Angeles City Council has only 15 seats, the lowest number per capita of any city in the country. Bonta spent election day campaigning in the Coachella Valley, could he seriously not have found the time to deliver on his promised “independent investigation into the City of Los Angeles and its city council with regard to the city's redistricting process” issued via press release on October 12, 2022. “The leaked audio has cast doubt on a cornerstone of our political processes for Los Angeles,” he wrote in announcing the investigation. Santiago was placing second behind Kevin de León with Democratic Socialists of America candidate Ysabel Jurado hoping for a late count upset to secure a top-two spot on the November 5 ballot.
Personally, I spent election day in Council District 10 in the middle of LA where Bonta endorsed Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer was placing dead last in a five-way race between appointed incumbent Councilmember Heather Hutt, Grace Yoo, Pastor Eddie Anderson and Aura Vasquez. In the LA Fed Tapes, Hutt’s appointment is discussed by former LA City Council President Nury Martinez, Kevin de León, former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and the former President of the LA Fed, the AFL-CIO’s powerful branch. Cedillo says that Hutt is “The one who will support us” to which Herrera agrees and Martinez says: “I like Heather Hutt!” Interviewed in October 2022 by Los Angeles Times journalist Erika Smith, Hutt, who is African-American said: ““I couldn’t believe it,” Hutt told me. “I was like, ‘Where did that come from?’”
Speculation has swirled since the leak occurred with recordings going online on Reddit with a note entitled: “LA County Federation of Labor Scam” authored by leaker “Honest-Finding-1581” and nowhere perhaps has the power of the union been more felt than in the Council Districts of South Los Angeles, 8, 9, and 10. Hutt was appointed because Mark-Ridley-Thomas, her predecessor had been ensnared in a corruption scandal involving the University of Southern California and his son Sebastian who had resigned from the State Assembly after sexual harassment allegations. The Dean of the USC School of Social Work Marilyn would receive a much lighter sentence, and no other USC officials would be prosecuted as part of the scheme, including my former supervisor at the institution, Vice Provost for Academic Operations Dr. Mark Todd to whom Flynn emailed about the planned exchange.
In a controversial statement from Parks on the conviction of Ridley-Thomas, which used the LA City Seal, he described how “In 2008, the County Fed spent a lot of that $10 million falsely attacking my character…It looks like former County Fed boss, Maria Elena Durazo targeted those hate-filled ads on the wrong candidate. I hope she got a receipt.” Parks claims that the spending from the LA Fed in the 8th Council District isn’t the only example of the labor organizations political influence on the redistricting process in Los Angeles, writing: “There’s also been the corrupt 2011-2012 redistricting process, where another County Fed favorite Herb Wesson gifted downtown to Huizar, which led to his indictment.”
None of this was on Aura Vásquez’s mind as we spent two days driving through Council District 10, which is perhaps the most gerrymandered district in Los Angeles stretching from West Adams to Baldwin Hills and even up to encapsulate Koreatown. In a race so clearly dominated by ethnic politics, Vásquez who is Afro-Latino and previously served on the Board of the Department of Water and Power was worried about turning out Latino voters: “Mi gente, your friendly reminder it’s time to go vote” sang out from the speakers strapped to the back of a flatbed truck with a mobile battery. Posters were taped to the sides, and perhaps all that was missing were balloons.
Vásquez had done fairly well in fundraising, “money” she had told me was the key to election success in South Los Angeles. She had brought in according to the February 28 filing with the LA City Ethics Commission, $137,788.55 in comparison to $83,565 for Pastor Eddie Anderson, $252,552 for Heather Hutt, $253,394 for Grace Yoo, and $229,574 for Reggie Jones-Sawyer who gained major union support while Anderson had scored the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times. The LA Fed, despite making endorsements in 4 other races, held off from making one in CD-10 even as they backed Santiago in CD-14, and Vásquez believed this was in part because of her political connections even as she lacked machine backing otherwise and relied mostly on small donors.
Her campaign was also most reliant on Public Matching Funds, with Jones-Sawyer and Grace Yoo also tapping into the program. Yoo and Vásquez had run 4 years ago in 2020 with Yoo advancing from the primary with Vásquez close behind only to lose to Ridley-Thomas. Popular appeal and political legitimacy are two separate things. Ridley-Thomas may now be facing 3.5 years in Federal prison, but he’s not exactly unpopular per say even if he’s lost his once mighty political legitimacy pending appeal of his criminal conviction. Incumbency is perhaps the greatest marker of legitimacy, and if Hutt, even unappointed can be said to have done one thing right it’s seemingly to have capitalized on her past career in politics to become a legitimate political force.
Heather Hutt previously worked as District Director for Isadore Hall III while he served in both the State Assembly and California State Senate before joining California Senator Kamala Harris and rising to become her State Director. Hutt would lose a special primary election to Isaac Bryan in May 2021 before being appointed to the post of Herb Wesson’s Chief of Staff during the period in which he replaced Mark Ridley-Thomas on LA City Council after he was suspended following the LA Fed Tapes meeting. During the recorded discussion, after talking about Hutt they describe how Irma Muñoz a non-profit leader wants the seat and how she’s married to an African-American. Kevin de León says that “she lives up in Baldwin Hills and she lives down the street from Karen Bass. She texts me, she says, ‘I want to run for that seat.’”
Herrera wants to “combat CoCo” in reference to the Community Coalition organization founded by LA Mayor Karen Bass and previously helmed by Marqueece Harris-Dawson before winning election to represent the 8th District in the far south of LA. Harris-Dawson was winning his primary race handily and is almost assured re-election. “Heather’s a personal friend,” says Herrera who even went to LA City Council to demand her appointment before Nury Martinez tells them to look at the boundaries, and Gil Cedillo goes: “Yeah, a little south, a little south. Debby [a redistricting commissioner] will know. It’s a little south. It’s a little west.” Perhaps Bonta is still investigating whether they were in fact able to unduly influence the district boundaries.
The Tapes were widely decried by the indigenous community of Oaxaca in Mexico for the offensive discussion that precedes this moment of collusion. Nury Martinez says about the migrant population in Koreatown, “I see a lot of little short dark people” in reference and Cedillo goes: “Yeah, puro Oaxacans. Puro Oaxacan Koreans.” Nury laughs and then Cedillo pokes fun at Kevin de León: “Not even like Kevin, little ones.” What’s on the Tapes is one thing, but I think most people would agree that this is hardly the first offensive, dare I say corrupt political conversation to happen in Los Angeles politics even if this is the first one to be recorded and leaked as an “October Surprise” now the subject of civil lawsuits by Cedillo and de León.
They both claim that their privacy was invaded, and point the finger at two now former LA Fed employees Santos Leon and Karla Vasquez in defending their reputations. Months after Los Angeles Magazine journalist Michele McPhee revealed that in July 2023 the LA Fed’s private internal investigators had found deleted spyware on Leon’s work laptop. Karla Vasquez had stayed on until March of that year, and it’s unclear what both are now doing for a living. They have previously declined comment to the Los Angeles Times and retained attorney’s to defend themselves. When those cases will go to Los Angeles County Court remains unclear, and both lawsuits leave open the question of additional co-conspirators. None of this political intrigue mattered to Aura Vásquez as we combed through the neighborhoods and thoroughfares looking for voters to entire while simultaneously avoiding polling stations where the sound truck couldn’t be present.
The political problems of South Los Angeles, as it’s now called, even if they were up for full display in that recording couldn’t quite overshadow the basic exercise of democracy. Rolling through Koreatown, music blaring, I carefully navigated the evening traffic as the sun began to set. People dashed on the sidewalks, and I spotted Oaxacans, Latinos and of course Koreans slowing moving in an almost intentional act of defiance against traffic patterns. I’ve driven larger size delivery vans before, but never a sound truck, and if there was one way to get at this story perhaps in some new or original way it’s to actually try and track your way through the district boundaries of CD-10 in what resembles a dysmorphic boot. The product of numerous political battles long before fought still playing out today in real life.
In two days of crossing CD-10, I hardly noticed any parks, and only a few major economic assets. The much discussed tussle between Curren Price in CD-9 and Marqueece Harris-Dawson in CD-8, the infamous, and much discussed: "Go get the airport from his fucking little brother, that little bitch Bonin...Bonin thinks he's fucking Black.” Mike Bonin is a former member of the LA City Council in the 11th District of West Los Angeles now represented by Traci Park. In an interview conducted for a November 18, 2021 Daily Trojan article by student journalist Suejin Lim, USC’s Senior Vice President for University Relations Sam Garrison is quoted speaking on behalf of USC: “We did not take any position on what district the University Park Campus and Expo Park should be…Our focus has been keeping us intact as we have been for decades.”
The late Latina politician Gloria Molina then serving as a Fellow at the Fellow at the Center for the Political Future is quoted as saying about the argument over political assets, and contingently the legitimacy they convene in putting them on display: “The argument is kind of petty and ridiculous…Instead of talking about the richness of constituents that they represent and the opportunities they have to better serve those constituents, [councilmembers] are talking about these assets, or these resources, which is not the most significant part of the role and responsibility.” Money isn’t everything in elections, nor are endorsements, and you have to wonder if knowing more about your Councilmember even from leaked recordings doesn’t convey some sort of establishment legitimacy automatically. Gloria also said: “Don’t be corrupt.”
Nury Martinez may be on the outs per interview last Fall, and try as they could to get back to the basic issues of government, the candidates in this election much like the last in the wake of the scandal continue to be shadowed by it as both perhaps in some way blessing and a curse. Being a reformer isn’t easy, and certainly it’s much easier to lose legitimacy sometimes than earn it the old-fashioned way. Vásquez didn’t have an election party planned, she intends to host a barbeque sometime soon for her volunteers and supporters. Getting a chance at the LA City Council seat again appeared to be slipping away, even as ballots remain uncounted pending tabulation.
On the east side, Kevin de León wouldn’t let Los Angeles Times journalist Gustavo into his election night party. Perhaps Kevin simply couldn’t afford the food? After all, he’s on Tape saying about Vice President Kamala Harris: “Kamala [Harris] raised, when she got attorney general, Kamala raised, like, a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Nada. Tranquilo. (Nothing. No fuss.) I raised $50,000. And the $50,000 was to fucking feed them food. And I got—” to which Nury Martinez deadpans: “You had a bunch of trucks.” KDL then complains about the cost of union labor before turning to “all those crazies in Orange County, who are pro-Trump, I said, forget about them,” he crows. KDL is certain: “They don’t do nothing to us [sic]. They’re just crazy people. They’re no threat to us. It’s the white liberals. It’s the L.A. Times.”
Vásquez and I looked at the initial results. We could see Donald Trump pulling far into the lead in the Republican Primary, ominously haunting the results in a way that Rick Caruso never could despite posting a picture of himself with his golden retriever Hudson saying blandly: “California voters—the last day to vote in the primary election is Tuesday! We have the opportunity to shape our communities’ future by weighing in on important races up and down the ballot, from Senate to District Attorney.” We saw Deputy City Attorney Ethan Weaver who received backing from Caruso trailing incumbent Democratic Socialists of America Councilwoman Nithya Raman closely. Vásquez remains a skeptic about my claim that the LA Fed Tapes in fact track back to Rick Caruso, but it’s not secret, Rick Caruso is out to reshape politics in California and beyond even as he’s denounced Donald Trump.
Rick Caruso might not be Donald Trump who has more political legitimacy than Mark Ridley-Thomas ever could have dreamed of having in his life, but he casts a long political shadow. People told Aura Vásquez that she was “crazy” when she ran against Ridley-Thomas the first time. This time seemed to be more assuring, and even as a second run by Rick Caruso for Mayorship in 2026 against Karen Bass remains on the horizon. You can’t help but wonder like Heather Hutt where the Tapes came from much less how far down the rabbit hole things go in South LA, if people used to actually simply get paid to vote. Personally, I fail to see how that’s much different than barraging them with mailers, television ads and even sound trucks. Turnout seemed low, but that’s not unusual, after all it’s Los Angeles.
Link: Rob Bonta GOTV Tweet
Link: Miguel Santiago Endorsement Tweet
Link: 2024 Election: Heather Hutt faces 4 challengers in L.A. Council District 10 race
Link: Column: ‘I’m a Black woman, not a pawn.’ The forgotten victim of L.A.’s racist tape scandal
Link: Inside the room: The entire L.A. City Council racist audio leak, annotated by our experts
Link: University and Exposition Park to remain in District 9
Link: Column: Gloria Molina’s farewell message to L.A.: Don’t be corrupt
Link: Column: ‘You cannot get close to’ Kevin de León at his surreal, high-security election party
Link: Rick Caruso Election Tweet
Link: LA’s Corporate Class Wants to Reverse Progressive Gains
Please support my work with your subscription or for direct aid use Venmo
Zachary Ellison is an Independent Journalist and Whistleblower in the Los Angeles area. Zach was most recently employed by the University of Southern California, Office of the Provost from October 2015 to August 2022 as an Executive Secretary and Administrative Assistant supporting the Vice Provost for Academic Operations and the Vice Provost and Senior Advisor to the Provost among others. Zach holds a Master’s in Public Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Policy and Planning from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. While a student at USC, he worked for the USC Good Neighbors Campaign including on their newsletter distributed university-wide. Zach completed his B.A. in History at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon and was a writer, editor, and photographer for the Pasadena High School Chronicle. He was Barack Obama’s one-millionth online campaign contributor in 2008. Zach is a former AmeriCorps intern for Hawaii State Parks and worked for the City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation. He is a trained civil process server, and enjoys weekends in the great outdoors.
