Capitol Weekly Podcast: LA politics update with Fernando Guerra

With the Recall in the rearview mirror, California political junkies can now fixate on the next big election in the state: the race to replace Eric Garcetti as the mayor of Los Angeles. The contest has already drawn big names like Congresswoman Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Kevin de Leon; Mark Ridley-Thomas had been rumored to be considering a run, but legal issues have put an end to that speculation.

Our guest this episode is Professor Fernando Guerra, who teaches political science at Loyola Marymount University and founded the Center for the Study of Los Angeles in 1996. He joined us to talk about the mayoral contest, the Mark Ridley-Thomas situation and the significant changes redistricting may bring to some council districts. All that, plus who had the #WorstWeek in CA politics.

Show Notes:

:50 Let’s talk about the mayoral race
8:26 What are the main issues in the campaign?
8:18 Newsom is usually aligned with Labor; What happened here?
10:10 The Mark Ridley-Thomas Effect
14:13 How did you get interested in politics?
21:21 What happens on June 7?
26:04 The #WorstWeekCA