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Part 120: Kevin de Len vs. The Truth - Will the CD-14 Curse Ever Be Broken?
By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist
October 15, 2024
The power of incumbency in politics is strong. Former Councilmember José Huizar had just reported to federal prison in Lompoc to begin his 13-year sentence, and at the end of three debates, one-person and two virtual, it still wasn’t clear that challenger Ysabel Jurado could unseat Kevin de León. The upstart Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate, who had even received the endorsement of the Los Angeles Democratic Party, had struggled across the three in-person debates with De León’s forcefulness, attacking her shamelessly. To be fair, the venue locales were all favorable to De León: Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, and Boyle Heights. Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano had called the performance of De León in the third showdown in Dolores Mission Church, beneath a crucifix, “a man with a huge chip on his shoulder eclipsed by an ego as large as the General Sherman tree.” Comparing him to Donald Trump, who has no actual connection with KDL, as they call him, was probably a mistake.
Kevin de León seemingly has relished in the MAGA energy, so much so you’d like he was almost going to Make The Eastside Great Again; he was, as Arellano had previously cast him, now the ultimate “Eastside politico.” Try as they may, comparing José Huizar and Kevin De León simply hadn’t worked because, well, unlike Huizar, whatever baggage of corruption that KDL carried has simply remained out of the limelight. Even the furor of the LA Fed Tapes, the notoriously leaked recordings in which KDL sat down with former LA City Council President Nury Martinez, former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and the former President of the LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (the LA Fed). His recovery campaign had worked; despite the turmoil, De León had simply outwaited his critics. Unlike the second debate, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles was simply locked out of the venue hosted by the Boyle Heights Beat to the sidewalk. A few Los Angeles Police Department officers stood across the street chatting.
Link: https://zacharyellison.substack.com/p/part-120-kevin-de-leon-vs-the-truth
October 15, 2024
The power of incumbency in politics is strong. Former Councilmember José Huizar had just reported to federal prison in Lompoc to begin his 13-year sentence, and at the end of three debates, one-person and two virtual, it still wasn’t clear that challenger Ysabel Jurado could unseat Kevin de León. The upstart Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate, who had even received the endorsement of the Los Angeles Democratic Party, had struggled across the three in-person debates with De León’s forcefulness, attacking her shamelessly. To be fair, the venue locales were all favorable to De León: Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, and Boyle Heights. Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano had called the performance of De León in the third showdown in Dolores Mission Church, beneath a crucifix, “a man with a huge chip on his shoulder eclipsed by an ego as large as the General Sherman tree.” Comparing him to Donald Trump, who has no actual connection with KDL, as they call him, was probably a mistake.
Kevin de León seemingly has relished in the MAGA energy, so much so you’d like he was almost going to Make The Eastside Great Again; he was, as Arellano had previously cast him, now the ultimate “Eastside politico.” Try as they may, comparing José Huizar and Kevin De León simply hadn’t worked because, well, unlike Huizar, whatever baggage of corruption that KDL carried has simply remained out of the limelight. Even the furor of the LA Fed Tapes, the notoriously leaked recordings in which KDL sat down with former LA City Council President Nury Martinez, former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and the former President of the LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (the LA Fed). His recovery campaign had worked; despite the turmoil, De León had simply outwaited his critics. Unlike the second debate, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles was simply locked out of the venue hosted by the Boyle Heights Beat to the sidewalk. A few Los Angeles Police Department officers stood across the street chatting.
Link: https://zacharyellison.substack.com/p/part-120-kevin-de-leon-vs-the-truth
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