Eric Garcetti
Eric Garcetti was the Mayor of Los Angeles in California. He assumed office on June 30, 2013. He left office on December 12, 2022.
Garcetti (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Mayor of Los Angeles in California. He won in the primary on March 7, 2017.
While the office of mayor is nonpartisan, Garcetti is a Democrat.[1][2] First elected in 2013, he won a new term in the primary election on March 7, 2017. Garcetti is Los Angeles' first Jewish mayor and, having been elected at 42 years old, was one of the youngest individuals to serve as mayor in the city's history.[1][3][4]
President Joe Biden (D) announced he was nominating Garcetti to serve as the U.S. ambassador to India on July 9, 2021.[5]
Prior to his election as mayor, Garcetti served on the city council, representing District 13 from 2001 to 2013. He was president of the council from 2006 to 2012.[6]
Garcetti was mentioned as a possible candidate for governor of California in 2018. On October 29, 2017, he tweeted that he would not run for that office in 2018, stating, "I have decided not to run for Governor of California. I am passionate about my city and my family; both are here in Los Angeles. We have a lot of work left to do to build a stronger city, state, and nation and I know I can best build on our progress here in LA. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and continue the work we have started together. Oh yeah, and Go @Dodgers! --EG"[7]
Biography
Garcetti was born in Los Angeles on February 4, 1971. He obtained a B.A. and an M.A. from Columbia University, where he studied urban planning and political science. He also studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and the London School of Economics. His professional experience includes teaching public policy, diplomacy, and world affairs at Occidental College and the University of Southern California.[6]
Garcetti has served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy reserve. As of December 2022, he is married to Amy Wakeland. Wakeland is the co-chair of the advisory board of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a labor advocacy group.[8] [4]
Elections
2022
Eric Garcetti was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2017
The city of Los Angeles, California, held primary elections for mayor, eight city council seats, city attorney, and city controller on March 7, 2017. Three community college board of trustees seats were also up for general election on that date.
Most races where no candidate earned a majority (50% plus one) of the primary votes cast advanced to a general election on May 16, 2017. This rule did not apply to the community college board races, which were determined by a plurality winner in the March election.[9]
This election was the second impacted by Charter Amendment 1. Passed in March 2015, the amendment shifted city elections to even-numbered years beginning in 2020. As a result, officials elected in 2017 won special five-and-a-half year terms ending in 2022. The following candidates ran in the primary election for mayor of Los Angeles.[10]
| Los Angeles Mayor, Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Eric Garcetti Incumbent |
81.37% | 331,310 |
| Mitchell Schwartz | 8.16% | 33,228 |
| David Hernandez | 3.28% | 13,346 |
| Diane Harman | 1.26% | 5,115 |
| David Saltsburg | 1.18% | 4,809 |
| Dennis Richter | 1.12% | 4,558 |
| YJ Draiman | 0.91% | 3,705 |
| Frantz Pierre | 0.83% | 3,386 |
| Eric Preven | 0.74% | 3,023 |
| Yuval Kremer | 0.60% | 2,436 |
| Paul Amori | 0.55% | 2,231 |
| Total Votes | 407,147 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "March 7, 2017, Election Results: Statement of Votes Cast," accessed May 22, 2017 | ||
2013
- See also: Los Angeles mayoral election, 2013
Garcetti won the primary election on March 5, 2013, defeating the other seven candidates on the ballot. He defeated Wendy Greuel, who had come in 2nd place in the primary, in the general election on May 21, 2013.[11]
| Mayor of Los Angeles, General Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Eric Garcetti |
54.2% | 222,300 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wendy Greuel | 45.8% | 187,609 | |
| Total Votes | 409,909 | |||
| Mayor of Los Angeles, Primary Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Eric Garcetti |
33.1% | 121,930 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wendy Greuel |
29% | 106,748 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kevin James | 16.3% | 60,154 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jan Perry | 15.9% | 58,472 | |
| Nonpartisan | Emanuel Pleitez | 4.1% | 15,263 | |
| Nonpartisan | Norton Sandler | 0.5% | 2,002 | |
| Nonpartisan | Addie M. Miller | 0.5% | 1,810 | |
| Nonpartisan | Yehuda "Yj" Draiman | 0.4% | 1,543 | |
| Total Votes | 367,922 | |||
Issues
Minimum wage
On May 19, 2015, the city council approved a measure 14-1 that raised the city's minimum wage. The measure raised the minimum wage annually on July 1 from $9 to $15 by 2020. Starting in 2022, the city's minimum wage was set to rise annually based on the Consumer Price Index averaged over the previous 20 years. When the measure passed, it was estimated that a nearly half of the city's workers made less than $15 an hour. On the measure, Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) said:[12]
| “ | We’re leading the country; we’re not going to wait for Washington to lift Americans out of poverty. We have too many adults struggling to be living off a poverty wage. This will re-establish some of the equilibrium we’ve had in the past.[13] | ” |
| —Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (2015)[12] | ||
Restaurant owners argued against the measure, saying it would severely impact their businesses. Because state law requires that tipped employees cannot receive lower than the minimum wage, some suggested a service charge added to bills to offset the cost for businesses.[12]
2014 proposal
On September 1, 2014, Garcetti announced a proposal that would have raised the city of Los Angeles' minimum wage from $9 per hour to $13.25 by 2017. The proposal would have also tied the city's minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index. Garcetti cited economic reasons as the catalyst for his proposal, saying, "Our recession is lagging because we don't have buying power at the bottom end of the economic scale. That means poor people have no money to spend in our shops and everything else is suffering." Business leaders in and around Los Angeles spoke out against the proposal shortly after Garcetti's announcement, claiming that raising the minimum wage could negatively impact local businesses by forcing them to raise prices or even cut jobs. The proposal did not move forward at that time.[14]
2024 Olympics
On December 16, 2014, Garcetti delivered a presentation to the U.S. Olympic Committee, arguing that Los Angeles would make an ideal setting for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. After the presentation, he told reporters, "I think our bid was the most affordable. L.A. is an Olympic town. We’re wired for the Olympics."[15] According to the Los Angeles Times, the city hosted the Olympics twice: once in 1932 and again in 1984.[15]
Garcetti began publicly discussing his plans to make a bid for the Olympics in August 2014, when he proposed the idea to a group of local business leaders at a luncheon hosted by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.[16]
Campaign finance
2017
Garcetti received $3,578,164.77 in contributions and made $2,550,782.26 in expenditures, leaving the campaign with $1,063,893.15 on hand as of reports available from the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission on February 27, 2017.[17]
2013
Garcetti raised over $4.9 million for his campaign, including matching funds, as of February 27, 2013. This put him in close contest with Wendy Greuel in the fundraising battle. Jan Perry was a distant third, having raised over $2.1 million, including matching funds.[18][11]
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor lobbied the mayoral candidates not to take any campaign funding from Wal-Mart retailers, and Garcetti announced that he intended to comply with their request.[8]
This chart shows fundraising totals for the mayoral election's "Big 5" candidates through February 27, 2013:
| Candidate | Contributions received | Expenses | Cash on hand | Matching funds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Garcetti | $4,341,755 | $4,958,067 | $249,988 | $667,000 |
| Wendy Greuel | $4,400,365 | $4,935,141 | $327,245 | $667,000 |
| Jan Perry | $1,591,529 | $2,142,366 | $101,898 | $667,000 |
| Kevin James | $444,328 | $732,843 | $33,878 | $266,986 |
| Emanuel Pleitez | $252,618 | $554,128 | $64,118 | $299,265 |
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
2016 presidential election
| Click [show] on the right for information about Garcetti's endorsement of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, the consideration of him as a potential vice president candidate, and his role as a Democratic superdelegate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2016 presidential endorsement✓ Garcetti endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[19]
Possible 2016 Democratic vice presidential candidate
Garcetti was mentioned as a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate. On July 22, 2016, Hillary Clinton announced that she had selected U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her running mate.[20] Democratic National Convention
Garcetti was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from California.[21] Garcetti was one of 75 superdelegates from California. Superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were not bound by the results of their state’s primary or caucus to support a specific presidential candidate. Garcetti supported Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.[22] Clinton formally won the Democratic nomination for president on July 26, 2016.[23] What is a superdelegate?Superdelegates in 2016 were automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention, meaning that, unlike regular delegates, they were not elected to this position. Also unlike regular delegates, they were not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate, and they were not bound by the results of their state's presidential primary election or caucus. In 2016, superdelegates included members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, and distinguished party leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents. All superdelegates were free to support any presidential candidate of their choosing at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[24] California primary resultsIn California's Democratic primary—which took place on June 7, 2016—475 pledged delegates were at stake, more than any other state in the 2016 Democratic nominating season. California's delegate haul represented almost 20 percent of the 2,383 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination and almost 12 percent of the 4,038 pledged delegates up for grabs in 2016. Polling from March and April showed Hillary Clinton with a lead in California over rival Bernie Sanders, ranging from six to 14 points. In 2008, Clinton won the state over Barack Obama 52 to 43 percent. California's pledged delegates were allocated on a proportional basis. California's 73 superdelegates were not required to adhere to the results of the June 7 primary election.
Delegate allocation California had 551 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 476 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide primary results.[25][26] Seventy-five party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.[25][27] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Noteworthy events
|
|---|
| Coronavirus pandemic |
| Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more.
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Garcetti announced on November 3, 2021, that he tested positive for COVID-19. He said he was fully vaccinated at the time he contracted the virus.[28]
On December 17, 2020, Garcetti announced he and his wife were self-quarantining at home after their daughter tested positive for COVID-19.[29]
Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
Garcetti was mayor of Los Angeles during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Los Angeles, California began on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, with demonstrations on the 101 freeway and at the Los Angeles County Hall of Justice.[30] On May 30, Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) instituted a curfew.[31] The same day, Garcetti requested that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) deploy the California National Guard to the city with members arriving overnight.[32]
| To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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See also
| Los Angeles, California | California | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Washington Post, "Who is Eric Garcetti?" May 22, 2013
- ↑ NPR, "Eric Garcetti Wins L.A. Mayor's Race," May 22, 2013
- ↑ Daily Breeze, "Filing period opens for March elections in South Bay, Los Angeles," November 11, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 LA Mayor, "Bio," accessed October 17, 2014
- ↑ Associated Press, "Biden nominates LA mayor Eric Garcetti for India ambassador," July 9, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Eric Garcetti, "Press Releases," accessed October 17, 2014
- ↑ Twitter, "Eric Garcetti," accessed October 30, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Los Angeles Times, "Eric Garcetti says donations don't break anti-Wal-Mart pledge," July 27, 2012
- ↑ Los Angeles Daily News, "A dozen hopefuls step up to the starting line for Los Angeles mayoral race," November 11, 2016
- ↑ City of Los Angeles City Clerk, "2017 Primary Nominating Election Candidates," December 16, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Los Angeles Times, "Eric Garcetti edges Wendy Greuel in L.A. mayoral race fundraising," October 11, 2012
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 New York Times, "Los Angeles Lifts Its Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour," May 19, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 89.3KPCC.org, "Mayor Eric Garcetti announces minimum wage proposal for Los Angeles," September 1, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 LA Times, "Los Angeles makes its bid for 2024 Olympics," December 16, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Register, "Mayor Garcetti outlines Olympics bid," August 18, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, "2017 City and LAUSD Elections," accessed February 27, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Greuel, Garcetti campaigns for L.A. mayor are ahead in fundraising," January 10, 2013
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's endorsement of Hillary Clinton hits embarrassing snag," November 6, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Hillary Clinton selects Tim Kaine, a popular senator from a swing state, as running mate," July 22, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's list of superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention is based on our own research and lists provided by the Democratic National Committee to Vox.com in February 2016 and May 2016. If you think we made an error in identifying superdelegates, please send an email to [email protected].
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, “L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's endorsement of Hillary Clinton hits embarrassing snag,” November 6, 2015
- ↑ To find out which candidate a superdelegate supported, Ballotpedia sought out public statements from the superdelegate in other media outlets and on social media. If we were unable to find a public statement that clearly articulated which candidate the superdelegate supported at the national convention, we listed that superdelegate as "unknown." If you believe we made an error in identifying which candidate a superdelegate supported, please email us at [email protected].
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions," December 30, 2015
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Democratic National Committee, "2016 Democratic National Convention Delegate/Alternate Allocation," updated February 19, 2016
- ↑ The Green Papers, "2016 Democratic Convention," accessed May 7, 2021
- ↑ Democratic National Committee's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection, "Unpledged Delegates -- By State," May 27, 2016
- ↑ ABC 7, "Mayor Garcetti will travel to US Sunday, return to Los Angeles Tuesday after COVID bout," November 14, 2021
- ↑ CBS News, "LA mayor in self-quarantine after daughter's positive COVID-19 test," December 17, 2020
- ↑ USA Today, "'Stop killing black people': George Floyd's death sparks protests in Minneapolis, Memphis, LA," May 28, 2020
- ↑ ABC News, "Los Angeles mayor imposes downtown curfew," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "L.A., wracked by looting and upheaval, turns yet again to the National Guard," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Associated Press, "Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death," April 20, 2021
- ↑ CNN, "Protests across America after George Floyd's death," accessed June 2, 2020
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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Mayor of Los Angeles 2013-2022 |
Succeeded by Karen Bass |
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Los Angeles City Council District 13 2001-2013 |
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