Kathleen Miles is the executive editor of Noema Magazine. She can be reached on Twitter at @mileskathleen.
Councilman Eric Garcetti is slightly ahead in LA’s 2013 mayoral race, according to a poll released Monday.
Of polled Angelenos who have decided who they’ll vote for in March, 36% chose Garcetti , 32% chose Controller Wendy Greuel, 15% chose Councilwoman Jan Perry, 9% chose former radio host Kevin James and 2% chose technology strategist Emanuel Pleitez.
However, a whopping 67% responded “don’t know,” which is understandable since the campaigns have not even begun yet.
Still, it is revealing to see what groups prefer which of the two frontrunners, Garcetti and Greuel.
Although they’re both Democrats, Garcetti polled better among traditionally more Democratic voters and Greuel among more Republican voters:
PREFER GARCETTI:
Race: Latinos, Blacks, Asians
Age: 18-64
Region: non-Valley
Religion: Catholics, Agnostic/Atheists
Political Party: Democrats
Household incomes: $80,000 and less; or greater than $150,000
Rent/own: home renters
PREFER GREUEL:Race: WhitesAge: 65 and olderRegion: the ValleyReligion: Protestants, Jewish respondentsPolitical Party: RepublicansHousehold incomes: between $80 – $150,000Rent/own: home owners
It’s not suprising that hipster candidate Garcetti — who drives a Prius, lives in Silverlake and is part-Mexican — polled better among liberals. Greuel, although a true-blue Democrat now, was actually registered Republican in her 20s, according to LA Weekly .
The poll also asked Angelenos if they thought Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s endorsement would hurt or help the candidate who received it. Whites and people 45 years and older thought the Mayor’s endorsement would hurt a candidate. Latinos, blacks, Asians, women and people under 45 years old thought it would help a candidate. Overall, opinion was about split.
The poll was distributed by 175 Loyola Marymount University undergraduate students on Nov. 6 at polling places across LA. There were 4,411 total collected surveys in English and Spanish. However, voter turnout in March will be much less than in November, so the poll should be read with a grain of salt.
In fact, a private poll in October showed Greuel with 20% of respondents’ support, while Garcetti had 16%.
In a statement to HuffPost, Greuel’s campaign consultant John Shallman said that LMU’s poll is “not even close” to accurate because it does not look at “likely voters.”
“The Garcetti campaign is grasping for any good news, and that said, the best news that Garcetti can grasp in this poll is that at the end of the day, he still would lose a head to head matchup against Wendy Greuel,” Shallman said. “Wendy has consistently held strong leads in previously polls that looked at who will be voting in March.”
Clearly, this is going to be a tough fight.
Find out more about each candidate here:
