In June the voters of the City of Los Angeles will be asked to choose two candidates to proceed to the General election in November from a crowded field of Mayoral hopefuls. As Los Angeles attempts to recover from the ravages of the pandemic, including a stark increase in violent crimes and unchecked proliferation of unhoused people in communities across the city, the next Mayor of Los Angeles will have a lot of work to do starting from day one.
In collaboration with our data partner Media Predict, Univision wanted to better understand the mindset of the voters choosing the next generation of leadership in the second-largest city in the United States. What issues do Latino voters and non-Latinos care most about? What are attitudes toward the local government representation in the city today? What are the most pressing challenges facing our neighborhoods? What does Los Angeles need to do to get on the right track?
In an online survey of 691 registered voters, 18 years or older, we delved deeply into the hearts and minds of the electorate to better understand the key issues and their degree of importance as a motivation to vote in the upcoming citywide elections.
To view the complete results of the survey, please click here: Univision and Media Predict – Los Angeles Mayoral Survey
Key takeaways:
- Only 1/3 of those surveyed believe L.A. is headed in the right direction
- 73% of Latinos believe that the quality of life in L.A. is fair or poor
- Homelessness, the economy, and reducing crime are the issues the voters think are most important for the next mayor to address
- 82% of Latinos and 90% of non-Latinos feel that homelessness is a serious problem in LA
- Nearly 50% of all respondents say they feel less safe in their neighborhoods than they did one year ago
- Inflation, gas prices, housing costs, and the economy are also top of mind with over 70% of respondents expressing concerns on these key issues
- Mental health is another important issue – over 75% of Angelenos believe mental health is a growing problem in our city, with concern over drug dependence and misuse being a top contributor to those problems
There’s no question that Los Angeles is facing significant challenges as it looks to emerge from the pandemic. The city’s next leaders will have the monumental task of attempting to solve challenging problems. Univision will continue to focus our coverage and insight-gathering on this important time in the city of Los Angeles and the potential impacts on our community. We believe that representation matters and will work hard to give our viewers the most up-to-date and thought-provoking information about the upcoming elections in the ‘City of Angels’. We hope you will continue to follow our ongoing coverage of the elections and the candidates as the races head toward the June Primary and November General elections.