Poli 103A California Politics Ethnic Politics in Urban LA

1. Poli 103A California PoliticsEthnic Politics in Urban LA

2. Ethnic Politics in Urban LA • Group Profiles: Communities and the New Machines • Downtown Developers • Westside Jews • African Americans • Latinos • API Americans

3. Political Boundaries of the City of Los Angeles

4. 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.

5. Group Profiles: Downtown Developers and the WASPs • 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

6. Group Profiles: Downtown Developers and the WASPs

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Group Profiles: Westside Jews

10. 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.

11. Group Profiles: African-Americans • 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.

12. Group Profiles: African-Americans

13. 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.

14. Group Profiles:Latinos • Latinos made up 22% of the city electorate in 2001. • Rapidly growing population. • Large gap between residents and voters, but gap is shrinking.

15. Group Profiles:Latinos

16. 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.

17. Group Profiles: Asian/Pacific Islander Americans • 6% of the city electorate in the 2001 election • Rapidly growing percentage of the population • Large gap between residents and voters

18. Group Profiles: Asian/Pacific Islander Americans

19. Discussion Section Are ethnic coalitions more or less stable than party coalitions?