A silver lining in Los Angeles: tenant lawyer ousts asshole incumbent
November 8, 2024 1:02 PM Subscribe
Ysabel Jurado has defeated incumbent Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León. De León is a legend on L.A.'s eastside and in California politics: former California Assemblymember, former President of the State Senate, failed U.S. Senate candidate (against Diane Feinstein in 2017), and current Los Angeles City Councilmember. De León was one of four people (three councilmembers and a labor leader) in the 2022 Los Angeles City Council tapes scandal and the last to find consequence. Jurado is a political rookie, a lifelong resident of her council district, the queer daughter of Filipino immigrants, a tenants rights attorney, affordable housing activist, and single mom.
The other participants in the tapes scandal quickly resigned or lost re-election to progressives. (I think the best crash-course in the tapes scandal--and maybe current LA politics overall--is reading this, this, this, and this.)
Of the four, it was de León who probably best learned the political lessons of the Trump era: give no quarter, have no shame, hang on for dear life, delay, delay, delay, and if you make it to the other side intact, they'll have no choice but to deal with you and give you legitimacy. For months, de León faced calls to resign, censure by his colleagues, and the loss of his committee assignments. He refused to resign (sometimes literally fighting for his career), regained his committee assignments, and eventually decided to run for re-election.
Jurado ran from well to de León's left, championing renters, the rights of homeless people, and a general politics of anti-displacement for residents and small businesses. A couple things swung her way in the primary, namely de León's scandal and another, better-established primary candidate's DUI arrest, but she also made excellent campaigning decisions. She won the most votes in the primary, followed by de León.
In the general election, Jurado got most of the big-ticket endorsements, while de León's campaign and independent expenditure groups were well-funded by developers and other private-sector interests. (Not for nothing, De León's predecessor in the seat, Jose Huizar, is currently working his way through a 15-year prison sentence due to a real estate developer bribery scandal. Jurado rejected developer dollars.)
Jurado overcame the considerable advantages that came with de León's incumbency and universal name-recognition, the fading memory of the 2022 scandal, and a well-funded red-baiting air war and mail campaign by de León and his supporters. She also survived an incident late in the race where she was recorded quoting the NWA song "Fuck the Police" in response to a question from a de León staffer pretending to be a police abolition advocate.
She's on track to win by 10 points or so. Her campaign's slogan was "Break the Curse." It is a silver lining in a race where the country re-elected Donald Trump and Californians broadly voted like right wing freaks up and down the ballot.
The other participants in the tapes scandal quickly resigned or lost re-election to progressives. (I think the best crash-course in the tapes scandal--and maybe current LA politics overall--is reading this, this, this, and this.)
Of the four, it was de León who probably best learned the political lessons of the Trump era: give no quarter, have no shame, hang on for dear life, delay, delay, delay, and if you make it to the other side intact, they'll have no choice but to deal with you and give you legitimacy. For months, de León faced calls to resign, censure by his colleagues, and the loss of his committee assignments. He refused to resign (sometimes literally fighting for his career), regained his committee assignments, and eventually decided to run for re-election.
Jurado ran from well to de León's left, championing renters, the rights of homeless people, and a general politics of anti-displacement for residents and small businesses. A couple things swung her way in the primary, namely de León's scandal and another, better-established primary candidate's DUI arrest, but she also made excellent campaigning decisions. She won the most votes in the primary, followed by de León.
In the general election, Jurado got most of the big-ticket endorsements, while de León's campaign and independent expenditure groups were well-funded by developers and other private-sector interests. (Not for nothing, De León's predecessor in the seat, Jose Huizar, is currently working his way through a 15-year prison sentence due to a real estate developer bribery scandal. Jurado rejected developer dollars.)
Jurado overcame the considerable advantages that came with de León's incumbency and universal name-recognition, the fading memory of the 2022 scandal, and a well-funded red-baiting air war and mail campaign by de León and his supporters. She also survived an incident late in the race where she was recorded quoting the NWA song "Fuck the Police" in response to a question from a de León staffer pretending to be a police abolition advocate.
She's on track to win by 10 points or so. Her campaign's slogan was "Break the Curse." It is a silver lining in a race where the country re-elected Donald Trump and Californians broadly voted like right wing freaks up and down the ballot.
Proud to say that I voted against KDL. Defeating him was one of the few silver linings in this election. Unfortunately, the California state ballot measures were much less encouraging. I grew up in a more conservative state so I'm happy to be in CA now, but it's still far from a progressive government.
posted by scose at 1:16 PM on November 8 [6 favorites]
posted by scose at 1:16 PM on November 8 [6 favorites]
Glad to see that scumbag get shown the door. He should have the shame to resign after the previous scandals. Unfortunately, shame is in short supply these days among the political class.
posted by dantheclamman at 2:00 PM on November 8 [1 favorite]
posted by dantheclamman at 2:00 PM on November 8 [1 favorite]
Both candidates seemed bad (Jurado appears to be terrible on housing) - I'm glad I don't live in that district.
posted by kickingtheground at 5:24 PM on November 8
posted by kickingtheground at 5:24 PM on November 8
"the best crash-course in the tapes scandal--and maybe current LA politics overall"
Thank you! Very educational!
posted by brainwane at 1:44 AM on November 9 [1 favorite]
Thank you! Very educational!
posted by brainwane at 1:44 AM on November 9 [1 favorite]
LA's streak of progressive victories - city council members Nithya, Hugo, Eunisses, city comptroller Kenneth Meija, and now Ysabel is something to be studied and replicated.
Am close friends with a number of the organizers who have helped run these campaigns. The secret is pretty straightforward - candidates who show up as their authentic selves, spend a lot of time listening to everyday people (not just polling) and making those peoples' needs the center of the campaign, providing actual aid and services (even before they get into office) and door knocking. A shit ton of door knocking.
Also important - the movement behind these victories has been LONG gestating and it took a lot of failures to get it to the point where it was ready to deliver some victories over the past 4 years.
posted by grimace636 at 9:23 AM on November 9 [6 favorites]
Am close friends with a number of the organizers who have helped run these campaigns. The secret is pretty straightforward - candidates who show up as their authentic selves, spend a lot of time listening to everyday people (not just polling) and making those peoples' needs the center of the campaign, providing actual aid and services (even before they get into office) and door knocking. A shit ton of door knocking.
Also important - the movement behind these victories has been LONG gestating and it took a lot of failures to get it to the point where it was ready to deliver some victories over the past 4 years.
posted by grimace636 at 9:23 AM on November 9 [6 favorites]
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I pulled Jurado aside for a quick interview and immediately asked about the archangel Michael pendant.
“My dad gave it to me a few weeks ago,” she responded, adding that it’s the patron saint of his hometown in the Philippines. “Him and his friend said the St. Michael prayer every night so that I could be unscathed and brave. Things got tough in the end.”
posted by kensington314 at 1:04 PM on November 8 [5 favorites]