The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America will not endorse a candidate for mayor.<\/p>\n
After City Councilmember Nithya Raman decided at the last minute<\/a> to run against her former ally Mayor Karen Bass, the group called a vote<\/a> on whether to reopen the endorsement process, which it had closed without supporting a candidate.<\/p>\n DSA-LA backed Raman\u2019s two successful city council runs, but she has been at odds with the group on some issues. <\/p>\n Also in the mix was another mayoral candidate, community organizer Rae Huang, whose positions align more closely with those of the group. <\/p>\n The two candidates were present for Saturday\u2019s vote at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Koreatown, though neither spoke. <\/p>\n The left-wing organization, which has about 5,000 members, is known for running strong ground game campaigns that include canvassing, door-knocking and phone banking. In addition to Raman, three other DSA-backed politicians now sit on the 15-member City Council.<\/p>\n Before the vote, DSA-LA members argued for and against reopening the endorsement process. <\/p>\n \u201cThe worst thing we can do right now for our movement is to say, \u2018Well, actually, we\u2019re not going to endorse Rae or Nithya. We\u2019re going to do a third thing, which is to issue no endorsement.\u2019 Who is the audience for this message?\u201d said Leslie Chang, a co-chair of DSA-LA.<\/p>\n DSA-LA member Anna Gross argued that neither candidate was ideal, with Huang, who has little political experience, being a long shot and Raman hesitating to fully embrace the group.<\/p>\n \u201cI do want a democratic socialist mayor, but as it stands, we have one candidate who is not going to win … and a candidate who will not openly identify as a democratic socialist,\u201d Gross said.<\/p>\n Of the 488 members who voted Saturday, about 55% supported reopening the endorsement process, falling short of the required two-thirds majority.<\/p>\n If the process had been reopened, the group would have then voted on whether to endorse Raman, Huang or neither. <\/p>\n Huang\u2019s earlier attempt to get the endorsement while the window was still open had failed because she did not obtain enough valid member signatures to qualify.<\/p>\n If the race is not decided in the June 2 primary, DSA-LA can still endorse a candidate in the runoff.<\/p>\n Besides Bass, Raman and Huang, the field of 14 candidates includes conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt and tech entrepreneur Adam Miller.<\/p>\n Some members believed that a mayoral endorsement would take resources away from the slate of six local candidates they have already endorsed.<\/p>\n In city council races, DSA-LA is backing incumbents Hugo Soto-Mart\u00ednez and Eunisses Hernandez; Faizah Malik, who is running against incumbent Traci Park on the Westside; and Estuardo Mazariegos for an open South L.A. seat.<\/p>\n The group is also backing Marissa Roy, who is challenging City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, and Roc\u00edo Rivas, an incumbent L.A. Unified school board member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America will not endorse a candidate for mayor. 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