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L.A. Mayoral Runoff Election Had Lowest Voter Turnout in 100 Years

By Clarissa Wei
June 18, 2013
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Photo: theocean/Flickr/Creative Commons License

It was just as bad as expected. The voter turnout for the Los Angeles' May 21 election was 23.3 percent, the lowest in 100 years for a general election.

Councilman Eric Garcetti was elected mayor with 222,300 votes, which is less than any other non-incumbent mayor elected since the 1930s, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis. The numbers also represent just a little over 5 percent of the population of Los Angeles. The low enthusiasm has been blamed on the similarities between the candidates -- both Democrats supported by unions.

The election was also the most expensive Southland election season on record. Independent expenditure committees and candidates in city and LAUSD races racked up almost $54 million in expenses, according to Ethics Commission figures.

The previous record was set in 2001 by James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa. Candidates and outside groups at that time ran up $44.9 million in expenses, and voter turnout during the runoff was 37.67 percent .

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