LA Mayoral Candidates Face off in First Debate

People actually want to be in charge of the looming fiscal disaster

With Los Angeles' mayoral primary less than 12 weeks away, the race is taking on a sharper focus after a weekend skirmish between City Controller Wendy Greuel and a rival who hopes to pull support from her political base among white voters in the San Fernando Valley.

Of the eight candidates vying in the March 5th primary, Greuel is one of the best known. Yet one of her least-known adversaries, Republican Kevin James, is posing a potential threat to her quest for a spot in the May 21st runoff.

Greuel made that clear when she tried to discredit James on Saturday night in the campaign's first televised debate. She described the KRLA radio talk show James once hosted as a "radical right-wing" program. By demonizing President Obama, she suggested, James cast doubt on his capacity to govern Los Angeles.