Poli 103A California Politics Rainbows and the Politics of Race

1. Poli 103A California PoliticsRainbows and the Politics of Race

2. Rainbows and the Politics of Race • Tom Bradley’s Rainbow • The End of the Rainbow • The Riots and Their Backlash • Wedge Issues and Their Backlash • Rainbows within Rainbows

3. Los Angeles City Coalitions:Tom Bradley’s Rainbow • After losing to Sam Yorty in 1969, Tom Bradley defeated him in the 1973 mayor’s race. Black voters, Jews, and other Westside liberals coalesced behind Bradley. • The rainbow coalition was based on the common goals of activist government and political inclusion, rather than any class solidarity.

4. Los Angeles City Coalitions:Tom Bradley’s Rainbow • The “senior partners” in the coalition were blacks and Jews. • The percentage of city commission appointments going to blacks rose from 6% under Yorty to 20% in 1991, and affirmative action expanded opportunity in jobs like police and fire departments. • Jewish commission appointments rose from 9% under Yorty to 36% in 1991.

5. Los Angeles City Coalitions:Tom Bradley’s Rainbow • The “junior partners” in the coalition were Latinos and Asians. • By 1991, Latinos made up 16% of commission members and Asian Americans made up 13%, both up from negligible numbers under Yorty. • Both groups also increase their proportions of city jobs.

6. Los Angeles City Coalitions:Tom Bradley’s Rainbow • The coalition fractured over growth. • In order to gain financial support for his runs for the governorship in ’82 and ’86, Bradley became more closely tied to downtown developers. Leveraged growth to pay for making LA a “world class city.” • This led to challenges from the Westside (Zev Yaroslavsky’s 1986 Prop. U) and the black community (Nate Holden in 1989).

7. Los Angeles City Coalitions:Tom Bradley’s Rainbow

8. The End of the Rainbow:The Riots and Their Backlash • After a Ventura Co jury found four LAPD officers not guilty of beating black motorist Rodney King, violence swept LA from April 29-May 2, 1992. • Most of those arrested were black and recent Central American immigrants. • 50 people died, 1000 structures burned, and $450 million in damage was done.

9. The End of the Rainbow:The Riots and Their Backlash • The rioting and increasing crime rates further divided the Bradley coalition. • 2500 Korean American merchants lost their businesses, and many didn’t support Mike Woo in 1993 mayor’s race. • Growth in Jewish law-and-order conservatism, especially among those who moved to the Valley. Woo only got a narrow majority of the Jewish vote.

10. The End of the Rainbow:The Riots and Their Backlash • Richard Riordan’s election in 1993 brought an end to the rainbow coalition. • Riordan was an investment banker who had become one of LA’s leading philanthropists. • A political moderate, he was pro-choice, tough on crime, and promised to be fiscally conservative.

11. The End of the Rainbow:Richard Riordan’s Coalition

12. The End of the Rainbow: Wedge Issues and Their Backlash • A wedge issue is “used by candidates of one party to attract voters who usually support the other party – in effect, driving a wedge between the opposition and its normal supporters.” Cain and MacDonald, p. 201. • A wedge can split the other party, a minority group, or a group coalition.

13. The End of the Rainbow: Wedge Issues and Their Backlash • Passed by a 59-41% margin in 1994, Prop. 187 would have prevented state and local governments from providing social services, education, and non-emergency medical care to noncitizens. • It fueled Pete Wilson’s dramatic comeback, with 36% of Democrats supporting it and 19% of Dems supporting Wilson over Kathleen Brown. • Opposition to 187 was highest among Latinos (77%), Jews (55%), and blacks and Asians (53%).

14. The End of the Rainbow: Wedge Issues and Their Backlash • Passed by a 55%-45% margin in 1996, Prop. 209 ended gender and race preferences by state and local governments, in fields such as public universities, public employment, and government contracts. • Favored 51-36% by whites, opposed 57-27% by Latinos, opposed 66-18% by blacks, and opposed 53%-31% by Asians. • It failed to help Bob Dole as a wedge issue, because it did not win many Democratic votes.

15. The End of the Rainbow: Wedge Issues and Their Backlash • Since the Prop. 187 campaign, Latino voters have been energized Democrats. • The number of new citizens in the state jumped from 178,000 in 1993-1994 to 515,000 in 1995-1996. • In 1996, 67% of newly registered Latinos voted, up from 43% in 1994. • Latinos voted 73-21% Democratic in 1996, after voting 52%-40% Dem in 1992.

16. Rainbows within Rainbows

17. Rainbows within Rainbows • LA’s Jewish community has split into Valley moderates, Westside liberals, and conservative Iranian immigrants. • Black leadership split between Mark Ridley-Thomas and Maxine Waters. • Latino splits between poorer, more recent immigrants with ties to service labor (Molinistas) and middle class with ties to business (Eastside PRI)

18. Rainbows within Rainbows • In the 2001 mayoral race, the growth machine and conservatives sat on the sidelines as Steve Soboroff, Riordan’s protégé, failed to make the run-off. • Jimmy Hahn narrowly defeated Antonio Villaraigosa to win, claiming 59% of white voters, 80% of blacks, 18% of Latinos, and 65% of Asians.

19. Rainbows within Rainbows • In 2005, Antonio Villaraigosa beat Hahn in a rematch to become L.A.’s first Latino mayor of the modern era. • Hahn’s firing of African-American police chief Bernard Parks cost him with the black community • Hahn’s successful opposition to Valley secession hurt him with Valley voters • Villaraigosa the “energizer bunny.”

20. Discussion Questions • Why did Asian American voters oppose Prop. 209, even though it may have helped Asians get into college? • What are the political benefits and risks of using a wedge issue?