Mayoral Candidates’ Debate at LMU Feb. 5, 2013

The top five candidates in the primary race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles brought their similarities and differences to LMU on Tuesday, Feb. 5, for one of several debates before the March 5 election.

The debate, hosted by LMU’s Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, featured City Councilman Eric Garcetti, City Controller Wendy Greuel, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin James, City Councilwoman Jan Perry, and former technology company executive Emanuel Pleitez. It was moderated by Political Science and Chicana/o Studies Professor Fernando Guerra, director of the center.

The candidates responded to questions asked by LMU students, sparring over numerous issues facing the city. At the top of the candidates’ priorities were the city budget, pension obligations, and business tax reform.

Below are several news stories from the event. For more information about the debate and the candidates, visit the Center for the Study of Los Angeles’ website.

Los Angeles Times — Debate Splits Candidates Into Insider and Outsider Camps

LA Observed — And the Mayor Debate Winner is ... Professor Guerra

Neon Tommy — Jan Perry and Kevin James Score Points at LMU

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Student Pollsters Projected Winner of Mayoral Race

Not everyone could have told you who was going to win the Los Angeles mayoral election just moments after the polls closed on Tuesday, May 21.

Not everyone—except those who were at the Election Night event hosted by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at LMU. That’s because the center’s exit poll predicted a win for Councilman Eric Garcetti, with 54 percent of the vote, over Controller Wendy Greuel, projected to win 46 percent of the vote.

Those numbers, it turned out, were exactly correct.

“We’ve been conducting exit polls in Los Angeles for years, and every time we improve our methods for collecting surveys and analyzing the results,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the center and professor of Chicana/o studies and political science at LMU. “On Election Night, we felt very good about our data, and the result speaks for itself.”

On Election Day, 75 student volunteers canvassed 25 precincts throughout the day and entered data as it came in from the field. Those surveys, combined with a telephone poll of voters who mailed in their ballots prior to Election Day, allowed center researchers to predict the outcome hours before official results began trickling in.

That projection, and the insights gathered from the exit poll’s demographic research, were extensively reported by the news media. The New York Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Reuters, KPCC 89.3 FM, and Fox11 News were among the many relying on the Center’s data and analysis in their coverage.

“The exit poll is a great opportunity for our students to get hands-on, behind-the-scenes experience in the political system,” said Brianne Gilbert, associate director of the center.

Beyond that experience, students also work with the data itself for their own research projects, such as tracking voting patterns or demographic changes throughout Los Angeles.

For more information, visit the Center for the Study of Los Angeles home page.

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