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On November 4th, 2024, We Went Back Time
Or were we already there?
April 1st, 1969 The Mayoral election for the city of Los Angeles held its primary. The way they used to run the nonpartisan election was to throw everyone into a primary and the two with the most votes had a run-off 8 weeks later.
This was a closely watched election as the two men in the run-off were incumbent Sam Yorty vs. Popular City Councilman Tom Bradley.
Yorty was born in Lincoln Nebraska in 1909. He later moved to Los Angeles where he went to college and law school. He was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1936. A political old timer you might say.
Although Yorty established himself as a man of great integrity after reporting a bribe attempt made on a pending bill and fighting to keep the California Highway Patrol out of labor strikes (yes, there was a discussion to send in the CHP to beat up striking workers), would taste the ethics of politics first hand in 1938.
The support for the union workers led to the local Communist Party supporting Yorty. In 1938 he was branded a communist by an inmate at Folson Prison during testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
The allegations were later found to be false but they would serve to hurt Yorty as he lost a Senate bid and left politics…
