poli 103a california politics ethnic politics in urban la

Poli 103A California PoliticsEthnic Politics in Urban LA

-50th Congressional District

-Bill Hauf

-Francine Busby

Ethnic Politics in Urban LA

Group Profiles: Communities and the New Machines•Downtown Developers

•Westside Jews

•African Americans

•Latinos

•API Americans

Political Boundaries of the City of Los Angeles

Group Profiles: Downtown Developers and the WASPs

Since 1880s, a series of boosters have promoted and profited from the growth of Los Angeles.•Harry Chandler expanded the LA Times

•Henry Huntington built the Red Cars The modern growth machine consists

of real estate developers who feed contributions to City Hall in exchange for building permits.


Non-Jewish, Non-Hispanic whites were 34% of the LA city electorate in 2001 mayor’s race.

Politically conservative, shrinking fast.

Map from http://www.ci.la.ca.us/PLN/DRU/HomeC2K.htm


Group Goals Resources Obstacles

WASPs • More development• Less crime• Preserve the status quo.

• Still the largest single group• High participation rates•Incumbents• Money

• The only staunchly conservative group• Shrinking numbers

Group Profiles: Westside Jews Unlike the Jewish population in San

Francisco, Los Angeles Jews were traditionally concentrated in Westside because of WASP exclusion.

Led by politicians such as the Berman-Waxman machine, which supported liberal candidates with Westside contributions and high tech direct mail targeting.

Group Profiles: Westside Jews

18% of the LA City electorate in 2001, but don’t show up in the Census.

Raphael Sonenshein studies Jewish political behavior by comparing Jewish, WASP, Berkeley, and African-American cities and districts:•Jewish voters are solidly Democratic, but

moderate on crime and race.

Group Profiles: Westside Jews


Jews • Slowing growth• Liberal policy and civil rights• Political inclusion

• Tradition of funding politicians• High degree of participation and activism

• Small population, not growing• Some antipathy among former allies

Group Profiles: African-Americans

From 1973-1993, former LAPD officer and UCLA sports hero Tom Bradley held together a rainbow coalition of blacks and white liberals.

As mayor, he pushed affirmative action in city hiring, federal anti-poverty assistance, and – more controversially – growth.


17% of electorate in the 2001 city elections, but shrinking share.

Many of the black voters in LA city are middle class, and many are employed by the city or county.



Blacks • Liberal policy and civil rights• Political inclusion• A share of the profits of growth

• Many potential allies• Fairly high levels of participation• Cohesive, concentrated

• Little wealth• Small and shrinking population

Group Profiles:Latinos

No longer a minority. Since 1990, Latinos have been the plurality of Los Angeles city residents.

“The Eastside PRI” and other local political machines elect officials.

Community groups like NALEO, SVREP, and MALDEF help to register voters and draw winnable districts.


Latinos made up 22% of the city electorate in 2001.

Rapidly growing population.

Large gap between residents and voters, but gap is shrinking.



Latinos • Become a “senior partner” in city offices and jobs• Liberal policies and govt. services

• Large and growing population• Many potential allies• Organized leadership

• Low participation• Little wealth• Power struggles between competing machines

Group Profiles: Asian/Pacific Islander Americans

Asians in the city are heterogeneous and their “towns” have been divided by political boundaries.

Still, Councilman Mike Woo (Chinese American) nearly won the mayoralty in 1993 with 86% of black vote, 69% of API vote, and 57% of Latino vote.


6% of the city electorate in the 2001 election

Rapidly growing percentage of the population

Large gap between residents and voters



API • End the political division of “towns”• Mixed goals on growth

• Tradition of funding politicians• Geographic concentration• Growing population

• Small population• Low participation• Few established leaders

Discussion Section

I want to focus on Raph Sonenshein’s analysis of Jewish voting•Why don’t exit polls tell us everything we

need to know?

•How did Sonenshein conduct his analysis?

•What are the pitfalls in inferring the behavior of Jewish voters by examining an entire district or city?

poli 103a california politics ethnic politics in urban la

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