Ritu Jha-
It was not an easy decision to call off the campaign, admitted Jessica Lall, the young Indian American mother who Feb 8 dropped out of the crowded field for the 2022 City of Los Angeles mayoral race.
Lall, president and CEO of the Central City Association of Los Angeles, an advocacy group focused on critical issues facing LA from child care to jobs and homelessness, had entered the race Sep 21 and visited the San Francisco Bay Area to raise funds.
Her campaign raised a good amount of money and appeared to be doing well, so the decision to withdraw came as a surprise.
“Covid was preventing us from engaging with voters directly,” Lall told indica, adding that direct engagement has an “outsized impact for a first-time candidate”.
She said it was important for her to end her campaign on a high so that she would continue to have an impact on the race and the conversations around it.
The mayoral election is scheduled Nov 8 and, according to Wikipedia, as many as 27 candidates have declared their intention to run and are gathering signatures to make the ballot.
Among the candidates are U.S. Representative Karen Bass, Los Angeles City Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Kevin de León, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, and businessman and developer Rick Caruso.
From the beginning, Lall stressed, she built a campaign that had supporters that “reflected the City of Los Angeles, not just City Hall”. And her ideas – particularly to deal with the critical problem of homelessness – were gaining traction.
The fundraising numbers at the end of last year surprised many as Lall finished third in the period, outraising two elected officials. According to campaign filings submitted Jan 31, she raised $403,452. The most money was raised by Rep Bass ($1.982 mn), followed by de León ($1.226 mn).]
However, with more candidates throwing their hats into the ring, the nature of the race changed, she said, and it became increasingly difficult to raise enough to remain competitive and get the message out.
“I was proud to run as a South Asian candidate and to represent my community and bring our unique issues to the forefront of the conversation,” she said.
On whether her heritage was a challenge, Lall, daughter of an Indian immigrant father and American mother from an Oklahoma military family, said the combination of being a young woman, a mother, a South Asian and a first-time candidate presented a unique set of challenges that ‘made it more difficult to be seen as viable”.
“I hope being in this race inspires more people with similar profiles to run for office,” she said. “We are desperately lacking diversity even in a city as multicultural and progressive as Los Angeles.”
On her plans for the future, and what she meant by posting on her campaign page that ‘the journey continues’, Lall told indica the reference was to the continuing crisis in LA and the need for bold leaders willing to make tough decisions to improve the quality of life for Angelenos.
“The status quo has failed,” she declared. “We need a change in course. The journey also continues for Los Angeles to elect its first woman mayor, first South Asian, first mother. We must stay committed, stay in this fight.”
Asked about the lessons she had learned and the difference between running for public office and for the executive job she holds, Lall said there are some commonalities, but they are also distinct experiences. Both need the candidate to have a clear vision, build a team, and inspire people to act. Electoral campaigns are more fluid and evolve by the day, as a result of which you have to adapt constantly.
As a candidate, she said, she spent six hours a day, six days a week on the phone raising funds. That is time that a serious candidate could be talking to experts, learning about an issue and putting forth plans and solutions to the complex problems the city faces.
“I saw firsthand how the system favors sitting officials and people of high net worth, who can self-fund,” Lall said. “We really need to do more to address campaign finance reform. Money matters – especially early on for first-time candidates, so if you feel inspired, get involved early,” she advised.
The former candidate said her biggest takeaway from the experience is that change is impossible unless people get out there. “Even if you don’t win the race, you can still have an important impact,” the soft-spoken would-be politician said.
