Politics: Sad Sam

When he was seeking his first term in 1961, Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty insisted that “to ensure healthy democratic processes” and thwart any “self-interest group that feeds on continued control of city hall,” eight years in the mayor’s office should be the limit. That argument helped Sam to defeat a two-term incumbent. However, after eight years in city hall, he decided that they were scarcely sufficient after all.

The voters may well overrule him. In a mayoral primary last week, the flamboyant mayor polled only 26% of the vote. Yorty came in a distant second to City Councilman Thomas Bradley, a Negro, who captured 42% of the total. A lawyer and former police lieutenant, Bradley, 51, fell short of the majority needed to prevent a May 27 runoff against Yorty. But by drawing 293,753 votes to Yorty’s 183,334, he established himself as the favorite. Bradley’s showing was more impressive for the fact that he was running in a field of 14.

Scandal and Absenteeism. It was the state of Sam Yorty’s city hall that caught up with him. His second term was tainted by scandals, including indictments of five Yorty-appointed city commissioners on charges of bribery or criminal conflict of interest. (Three were convicted, two await trial.) Angelenos were unhappy with the mayor’s frequent absences visited more than a dozen foreign countries—while the nation’s third city (pop. 2,800,000) was wracked by crises. Los Angeles Negroes (18% of the voters) united against Yorty for his failure to grapple with racial issues that have simmered since the 1965 Watts uprising. Though Yorty integrated city departments, Negroes were of the opinion that it was only a token effort.

Yorty’s greatest failure was in providing leadership for the diffuse, sprawling metropolis that was described 30 years ago as “19 suburbs in search of a city”; today there are 64 suburbs, and they are still searching. Yorty has protested that the mayor’s power is so limited he is scarcely able to govern at all.

Moral Force. Bradley disagreed emphatically. The city charter (adopted in 1925) does not proscribe leadership, he argued. The mayor “has to take on the role of being the community’s moral force. For most of its people, the city has ceased functioning. All it does is pick up garbage. How can you identify with a garbage truck?” The 6-ft. 3-in. former football and track star impressed audiences with his expertise on urban affairs. To whites anxious about the city’s racial divisions, Bradley declared: “Let me say to those of you who are uneasy—that black, brown or white or yellow or gray or magenta, I happen to be the most qualified candidate running.”

Bradley’s strategy was to identify himself as “the” Democratic candidate in a city with twice as many Democrats as Republicans. Against Yorty, who supported Richard Nixon in 1960 and who last year was touting himself as a potential Secretary of Defense in a G.O.P. Administration, that was not an impossible task. Bradley won endorsements from Senators Edmund Muskie, Fred Harris and California’s own Alan Cranston and from former Governor Pat Brown. He mobilized 10,000 volunteers, set up 31 neighborhood headquarters, compensated for a lack of sizable contributions by attracting small sums from thousands of donors.

During the campaign, Yorty affected a pose of almost cocksure confidence, rarely stepping out of the television tube. No sooner were the results in than he abandoned that cool, accusing Bradley of waging a “racist” and “deceitful” contest. “I haven’t let loose on him yet,” he said. All the same, he has a long way to go to catch up. The candidate who finished third in the primary, Moderate Republican Congressman Alphonzo Bell, endorsed Bradley. So did the Los Angeles Times, an old foe of Yorty’s.

The city’s April Fools’ Day balloting also produced two winners with familiar names. Barry Goldwater Jr., 30, who may be more conservative than his Senator father, won the G.O.P. primary for a vacant Los Angeles seat in Congress. Edmund G. Brown Jr., 31, son of the former Governor, made good in his first race too, leading the primary field for a place on the city’s newly created junior colleges board. Both are heavy favorites in their runoffs.