L.A. Council President Eric Garcetti announces bid for mayor
L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti reshuffled the arithmetic and geography of the race to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday, joining the growing field of contenders in the 2013 citywide election.
Garcetti, 40, is the third elected official at City Hall to take the plunge, following City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilwoman Jan Perry. Fluent in Spanish, he immediately becomes the only high-profile Latino in the race; his father, former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, is of Mexican descent.
While Greuel lives in the San Fernando Valley and Perry represents downtown and South Los Angeles, Garcetti has his base in the midsection of Los Angeles, taking in such neighborhoods as Echo Park, Silver Lake, Hollywood and Historic Filipinotown.
Still, he has ties to an array of other neighborhoods. Garcetti grew up in the San Fernando Valley, has parents who live on the Westside and two sets of grandparents who lived in Boyle Heights. His mother is descended from Russian and Eastern European Jews.
“His strength is that his is kind of a multiethnic candidacy, reflected in part by his own background,” said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at Cal State Fullerton, who described Garcetti as a “formidable” candidate.
Garcetti said he was proud of his family’s history and said he had shown skill in bringing people together — representing a district that includes large pockets of Mexican, Central American, Filipino, Armenian and Thai residents, among others. “There’s not a place I go in this city where I don’t have a direct connection,” he said.
Because of term limits, Villaraigosa must leave office in June 2013. Also in the running are former Villaraigosa “jobs czar” Austin Beutner, who opened an exploratory committee last spring, and radio host Kevin James.
Garcetti, 40, is the third elected official at City Hall to take the plunge, following City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilwoman Jan Perry. Fluent in Spanish, he immediately becomes the only high-profile Latino in the race; his father, former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, is of Mexican descent.
While Greuel lives in the San Fernando Valley and Perry represents downtown and South Los Angeles, Garcetti has his base in the midsection of Los Angeles, taking in such neighborhoods as Echo Park, Silver Lake, Hollywood and Historic Filipinotown.
Still, he has ties to an array of other neighborhoods. Garcetti grew up in the San Fernando Valley, has parents who live on the Westside and two sets of grandparents who lived in Boyle Heights. His mother is descended from Russian and Eastern European Jews.
“His strength is that his is kind of a multiethnic candidacy, reflected in part by his own background,” said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at Cal State Fullerton, who described Garcetti as a “formidable” candidate.
Garcetti said he was proud of his family’s history and said he had shown skill in bringing people together — representing a district that includes large pockets of Mexican, Central American, Filipino, Armenian and Thai residents, among others. “There’s not a place I go in this city where I don’t have a direct connection,” he said.
Because of term limits, Villaraigosa must leave office in June 2013. Also in the running are former Villaraigosa “jobs czar” Austin Beutner, who opened an exploratory committee last spring, and radio host Kevin James.
