The Power to Endorse

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The Times editorial board opens their endorsement piece describing Los Angeles as an "underachieving" city, and partly blames the LA City Council for negotiating unaffordable city contracts.

But the Times editorial board praised Garcetti's "finesse" in handling difficult labor negotiations during his 12 years as a member of the LA City Council - with six of those years serving as the Council's President. It also cites his role in the revitalization of East Los Angeles neighborhoods including Hollywood and Echo Park.

As it stands, the Times acknowledges that there is no obvious superior choice when it comes to this election's entire pool of candidates, which includes Wendy Greuel, Jan Perry, Kevin James and Emanuel Pleitez.

Raphael Sonenshein is Executive Director of The Pat Brown Institute at Cal-State Los Angeles says the Times has a large enough readership to potentially sway voters.

"It's going to reach a certain audience that tends to be a high turnout electorate in city elections. While the endorsement wasn't totally enthusiastic for Garcetti, it talked about his potential of becoming a good mayor," Sonenshein said.

Sonenshein says that though the LA Times carries a lot of weight with voters, it is just one of a number of important endorsements during this mayoral election.

"Former Mayor, Richard Riordan has endorsed Kevin James. The Daily News which has a lot of clout in the Valley has endorsed Wendy Greuel, and Greuel has a number of endorsements from both labor unions and business that by the of the day can turn out a lot of voters, especially labor. So it's a pretty crowded field of endorsements, the Times doesn't stand alone," Sonenshein said.

LA Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Tom Bradley were endorsed by the Times during their mayoral runs.