Los Angeles Mayor’s Race Advances to November Runoff – What Voters with Disabilities Need to Know

Los Angeles, CA, June 8 – The race to replace Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will continue this fall, with Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA) facing off against billionaire real estate mogul Rick Caruso in a November runoff election. Despite weeks of hard campaigning, neither candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote. This means that Angelenos will have one final chance to choose their next mayor on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

“Los Angeles faces a major turning point when it comes to picking their next mayor,” said Nelly Nieblas, RespectAbility’s Los Angeles-based State and Federal Policy Associate. “Both candidates need to lay out a clear vision for what they would do to earn the votes of the 1 million Angelenos living with a disability.”

The Los Angeles Mayor’s race garnered national attention and featured a crowded field of diverse candidates, each pitching their vision for the future. Over the past several months, RespectAbility has actively engaged with the different mayoral campaigns to educate them about the key issues facing Angelenos with disabilities.

According to the 2021 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium, the disability community makes up 9.9 percent of the population in Los Angeles County and fully 11.3 percent of California’s state population. Nationwide, one-in-five Americans has a disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. People with disabilities are America’s largest minority group. It is also the only one that, due to accident, aging or illness, anyone can join at any time.

Despite active communication with RespectAbility’s team, neither Rep. Bass nor Caruso submitted their answers to the 2022 Disability Questionnaire for Los Angeles Municipal Elections. RespectAbility will be revising and re-sending our questionnaire ahead of November’s runoff election.

“Candidates for office ignore the disability community at their peril,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, RespectAbility’s Chairman. “As such, we hope that both Bass and Caruso will lay out a clear vision for how they will make Los Angeles an even better place to live and work for people with disabilities.”

In Los Angeles, you must be registered to vote at least 15 days prior to an election in order to vote in that election. This means the deadline to register to vote in the runoff election is October 24, 2022.

For more information about how to register to vote, how to cast your ballot or to get assistance in voting, please visit the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk website.

RespectAbility is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. RespectAbility does not rate or endorse candidates. View more coverage of 2022 candidates.