Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon Announces Candidacy For Mayor
De Leon becomes third major candidate, first Latino candidate to enter race
By Evan Symon, September 21, 2021 10:55 am
Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon announced his candidacy for Mayor on Tuesday, becoming the third major candidate to enter the 2022 race since last year.
The son of Guatemalan-American and Chinese-American parents, de Leon first worked as an illegal immigrant documentation worker and as a labor organizer for the California Teacher’s Association (CTA) before becoming the campaign manager for then-Assemblyman Fabian Nunez in 2002. Following his graduation from Pitzer College the next year, de Leon remained involved in politics until deciding to run for the state Assembly in 2006. Winning as a Democrat, de Leon spent the next four years there, even facing a scandal in which he was accused of “ghost voting” for another Assembly member while they were away. Despite being investigated by then Assemblywoman and future Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA), he was soon cleared of the charge.
In 2010 he was elected to the state Senate, becoming a large proponent of renewable energy and gun control legislation. De Leon also made further gaffes, such as calling the Central Valley as “the middle of nowhere and tumbleweeds” during an argument over the high-speed rail system. Following a U.S. Senate loss to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and leaving the State Senate as it’s President in 2018, de Leon returned as a Los Angeles City Councilman in 2020. Since then, he has been known for opposing denser-housing bills, such as SB 9, being a proponent of “tiny home” homeless shelters, and being against the expansion of some public transit lines in his Northern-LA district.
At a press conference Tuesday morning at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, de Leon announced his candidacy for Mayor, pressing specifically on issues such as affordable housing and homelessness in his speech.
“I’m running for every worker who was called essential but treated like they were expendable,” said the Councilman on Tuesday. “I’m running for the neighborhoods that were crushed by COVID-19 while others were spared. I’m running for everyone who is caught up in the worst humanitarian crisis in America today – our homelessness pandemic.”
De Leon joins Feuer, Buscaino in race
De Leon is now the third major candidate to enter the face, following Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, who entered the race last year, and Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who entered in March. In total, de Leon has become the 11th candidate to enter the race, as well as the first prominent Latino.
While a few prominent lawmakers have already said they would not run, including City Council President Nury Martinez, other prominent lawmakers are expected to announce their runs soon, including former Los Angeles Unified School District President Austin Beutner and de Leon political rival Congresswoman Bass.
“De Leon has had a roller coaster ride as a politician,” Los Angeles issue advisor Ramon Martin told the Globe on Tuesday. “And he has butted heads with Bass up in Sacramento and both Buscaino and Feuer down in LA. Plus, let’s not forget him almost becoming a Senator a few years ago in Washington. He was the closest ever to unseating Feinstein and probably would have if she didn’t make a late-stage attack on him for not being progressive enough and actually comparing him to Trump.”
“He wants to be back at a high position after losing out in Sacramento and Washington. He went back to his LA roots, became a Councilman, and now wants more as Mayor.”
The candidates currently have nine months to prepare their bids, as the primary election in set for June 2022, with a runoff election in November 2022. The winner will replace current Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is being term-limited out of office and is expected to become the next Ambassador to India soon.
- Gov. Newsom Buys $9 Million House in Marin County - November 16, 2024
- California Republican Totals For President, Senate Highest Now In Decades - November 15, 2024
- Michelle Steel, Derek Tran Separated by 300 Votes As 45th House Race Remains Uncalled - November 15, 2024
RELATED ARTICLES
-
September 19, 2018 -
-
You gotta be kidding me. Oh brother, THAT would really be the cherry on top of the garbage pike, wouldn’t it.
First of all, he is one of the L.A. City Council members facing a recall effort because his district is a crime-ridden, homeless/vagrant-ridden nightmare of a hellhole, just to name two problems with it.
Second, he doesn’t know the Pledge of Allegiance:
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/l-a-councilman-de-leon-bungles-pledge-of-allegiance-gets-lambasted-on-twitter/
I could go on, and maybe I will, as the day goes on. There is plenty of post, as many of you know.
I know L.A. has and has had an awful and incompetent and damaging and repellent excuse for a mayor for these last many years in one Eric ‘Yoga Pants’ Garcetti, but this is ridiculous.
*garbage PILE*
*plenty TO post*
sigh 🙂
He may not know his Pledge of Allegiance but at least he’s an expert on firearms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJmFEv6BHM0
And the overpaid idiots standing behind him aren’t any brighter than he is.
I’d say these clowns are all mediocre but I’m afraid they’re grossly underqualified for that adjective.
Oh, that’s a good one, Ted. “Makes a fool of himself” —- that’s for sure.
Here’s another video to grit your teeth by:
Sen Kevin de Leon Facilitates Forgery and I.D. Theft:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgYuxcMSePk
Ha, nowadays that is a good qualifier.
1. Don’t know the constitution, no problem!
2. Don’t know what type of firearms there are and why the second amendment is important, no problem!
3. Don’t know the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, no problem!
The less he knows about American values and laws the better. The global elite want an empty suit to fill the post. He will follow orders. They have a state to wreck after all.
Liberty loving constitutionalist need not apply..????
No kidding, Cali Girl —– all this shameful stuff is really just resume-building nowadays! Should probably stop posting now, it’s not helping. 🙂
Oops, yes it may end up as a campaign slogan????
I am recalling Kevin A. Leon because he is a fake, the only thing that helps him is that he BLAMES EVERYTHING ON TRUMP AND BECAUSE LA HATES TRUMP, THEY SWALLOW LEON’S BULLSHIT! HE NEEDS TO RESIGN AND RUN FOR MAYOR BUT HE WON’T. WE MUST RECALL AND REMOVE THIS MAN FROM POLITICS ALL TOGETHER!!! WE ALL KNOW HE WON’T MAKE AS MAYOR, BUT WE DON’T WANT HIM AS COUNCILMAN EITHER. WE NEED HTC. HONESTY, TRANSPARENCY, COMMITMENT!!!
So, city hall incompetents think Angelenos will be satisfied with going from bad (Garshitty) to one hell of a lot worse (any city council member) to run the city?? HELL NO.
Abe, you’re right about any city council member. Thank the good Lord that super-annoying Nury Martinez has decided not to run. Kevin de Leon took campaign money from Ed Buck, by the way. Almost $28K, and didn’t give it back, as some did when Buck ran into trouble, but apparently lied about it instead. City Atty Mike Feuer, another leftist who is also on the list to run for mayor, took money ($17K) from Ed Buck as well and didn’t give it back.
Aw come on! Quit picking on poor little Kevin “Ghost Gun” de Leon! Seriously we have some pathetic big city mayors in this state with the likes of Liccardo, Schaf, Breed, Steinberg, and of course Garcetti.
HA – you’re right, John, but there is so much fodder with La Raza Kevin it becomes comical in addition to being disturbing. Plus some of us thought we had run him out of politics forever some time ago so it’s grating that he keeps popping up with his preposterous ambitions.
Have fun Showandtell!
Heaven help El Lay….
Just when you thought it had hit rock bottom, they find a way to dig another level lower….
At least all these clowns will keep Angelenos looking to buy our Ventura County property and keep the demand level high….
We will be losing another couple of friends next month. They just sold their South Bay home, are packing and moving to a newly purchased home in Prescott, in the free state of Arizona. AZ just got two more God-fearing conservatives as residents. Their married son also bought a house there and are also moving. CA is bleeding out of it’s tax base.
The mayor is a joke position. And there are clowns running for mayor trying to bolster their political ambitions or trying to build their own pet project agenda for the homeless and housing for votes when it’s always the same toss in money for some short term solution.
Do not look at his record, I wonder if he could win an election in Guatemala?