How Venice Voted: Venice liked Villaraigosa and Rosendahl in the March 8
election
By Jim
Smith
Venice again voted progressive in
the March 8 election for Mayor and City Council. Last November, in a much larger
turnout, Venice had given the reigning president, G.W. Bush only 13 percent of
its vote.
This time around most Venetians sat out the
election. Only a third as many voters came out on election day as had in the
presidential election. Perhaps, most Venetians don’t think these offices
are particularly relevant to their lives. Or perhaps, they’d rather have
someone else decide their future.
In
either case, those who did vote, supported Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor and
Bill Rosendahl for City Council (CD-11). Both received a narrow majority in
Venice, north of Washington Blvd.
Villaraigosa slipped to second place
in the Peninsula, behind Bob Hertzberg. However, Villaraigosa did come out ahead
in the Oxford Triangle (south of Washington, west of Lincoln). Rosendahl’s
support was just the opposite. He trailed Flora Gil Krisiloff (45-60) in the
Triangle, but led in the Peninsula
(266-187).
Incumbent Mayor James Hahn
won second place in Venice, north of Washington, while Hertzberg took second
south of Washington.
Rosendahl and
Krisiloff are locked in a tight runoff, with only 1,200 votes separating them on
March 8. The third candidate, Angela Reddock, who drew more than 5,000 votes
(including 500 in Venice) has endorsed Rosendahl. Most of her supporters will
likely feel more comfortable with his “go slow” approach to
development, rather than Krisiloff’s.
Villaraigosa and Hahn’s race is
not as tight. However, Hahn came from behind four years ago to beat
Villaraigosa, largely with mud-slinging TV advertisements. This time Hahn has to
run on his record which has alienated large sections of Los Angeles, including
the African-American community and the Valley. Most, if not all, of the major
candidates who were eliminated in the March 8 election will likely endorse
Villaraigosa. Richard Alarcón already
has.
In Venice, Villaraigosa led in
every precinct except in the Peninsula. He won outright majorities in 13 of 25
precincts and scored more than 40 percent in nine others. More than 60 percent
of the voters in Central Venice and Oakwood preferred
Villaraigosa.
In CD-11, Venice gave
more than 63 percent of its vote to Rosendahl and Reddock and only 36 percent to
Krisiloff. That compares with district-wide results of 58 percent for Rosendahl
and Reddock and 41.5 percent for
Krisiloff.
In this election, only 10
percent of the council district votes came from Venice. Our issues and concerns
can have more impact in the May 17 runoff, if Venetians will only get off their
duffs and come out to vote.
Posted: Sun - May 1, 2005 at 01:42 PM