First, a quick thanks to everyone who attended our members-only open house on Thursday. It was a powerful gathering of people who truly care about their city.

If you didn’t get an invite, consider making a recurring donation so you can come to our next one.

The cost of an election

We were doing some math in the newsroom recently and hit on a striking data point: To win her re-election last month, Councilmember Mary Zendejas raised nearly 41 times more money than her nearest opponent.

She had all the right ingredients — on paper at least — for a lopsided win. Behind her was a congregation of powerful endorsements, incumbency and enough name recognition for it to matter in a downtown race that normally sees only 7,000 votes. 

So why, despite all signs pointing to a landslide, did Zendejas avoid a runoff by only 22 votes?

What further confounds the logic behind the race: Her top challenger, Anthony Bryson, is an activist with no experience in political office. Yet Bryson managed to build a powerful coalition despite being the last to enter the race and with only $3,100 raised — the least haul of any of the six candidates. 

Zendejas may have avoided the runoff, but it was by a microscopic margin — a strange phenomenon considering the downtown City Council seat she claimed had normally been a political powerhouse, including two recent officeholders who moved up to the state Senate and Congress.

In terms of campaign balance sheets. Zendejas raised roughly $107,000 for her reelection bid, buoyed by major real estate developers, local unions, powerful political action committees and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.

Another $19,500 was raised to support her campaign as outside spending — the only 1st District candidate to receive such support — from the city police officers association committee, Long Beach Firefighters PAC and LA County Democratic Party issues committee. 

Translated to the final tally, Zendejas spent roughly $34 for every vote she received. Bryson spent about $2.38 per vote to secure second place with 1,300 ballots. 

Zendejas’ campaign didn’t respond to us when we asked for her thoughts, but Bryson was happy to share.

“I think that’s a testament to the PACs that are backing Ms. Zendejas and their interest in keeping an activist out of such a coveted seat as District 1 is,” Bryson said in a phone interview last month. 

Facing an immense financial deficit, Bryson said he relied heavily on door-to-door knocking, phone banks, a targeted Roku advertisement, and a core team of about 30 volunteers. He also pooled resources and cross-endorsed with other progressive newcomers running similar shoestring campaigns, including Lori Logan, Terri Rivers, and Lee Goldin.

“We didn’t have a lot of money, so we had to use it strategically,” Bryson said, noting that his campaign focused on letting voters feel heard. “A lot of people were saying that with the incumbent they don’t really feel heard, and so just being able to hear them out with their frustrations … gave them that outlet.”

Bryson argues that even the threat of a runoff will force more attention to be paid in District 1, which has historically seen low voter participation.

“I think I resonated with voters because right now people are struggling … with frustration with the federal government, from state government and local government.” 

Zendejas made some similar points in her campaign. She pointed to her track record of expanding pandemic “hero pay” for frontline workers, crafting localized tenant protections against “substantial remodel” evictions, and championing the city’s Grow Long Beach economic initiative. 

Even though Zendejas has championed issues like that, Bryson still found traction running to her left. A longtime member of Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Socialists of America, as well as the co-founder of the civil rights nonprofit SoCal Uprising, Bryson aligned his platform with progressive policies like lowering the local rental increase cap, immigration safeguards and creating fenced encampment zones that were secured by unarmed peace officers. A renter living in the 90813 ZIP code, he campaigned on the premise that working-class residents are being left behind by downtown’s rapid redevelopment. 

“I represent the everyday person,” Bryson said. “I’m not a career politician.”

Business news in brief

  • The city of Long Beach said it got 9% fewer complaints about fireworks over this year’s July 4 holiday. Does that mean there were fewer fireworks, or people just aren’t reporting them as much? We’ll let you decide.
  • The Long Beach City Council is still on its July recess, and most other municipal meetings are canceled, but you can still see any upcoming agendas here. 
  • However, if you live along Pacific Avenue, you probably don’t want to miss this meeting. Public Works will lay out its vision to “reimagine” two miles of Pacific from Pacific Coast Highway to Wardlow Road during a virtual meeting on Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. They’re planning intersections with new signals, new crosswalks, new bus stop shelters, two miles of bike lanes and more.
  • The Maya — Long Beach’s independent waterfront hotel — unveiled last week a multimillion-dollar renovation with redesigned rooms and a revamped concept for Fuego, its popular lounge and restaurant. You can check out the new look of The Maya (they dropped “Hotel” from the name) here.
  • Alter Society Brewing in downtown also just scored a big win. They’ve been named the Team USA house for artistic swimming during the 2028 Olympics. No, the team won’t be living there, but it means athlete appearances, live viewing and exclusive merch for all the hardcore artistic swimming fans — or anyone who just wants to feel like they’re part of the Games. It makes sense considering the artistic swimming competition will be just down the road at the Long Beach Convention Center.

ICYMI — California and national news

  • Have you seen a trailer advertising “Pinkys Girls” around town? The city is trying to get rid of it without violating free speech rules. (Long Beach Post)
  • Newsom’s final budget sends more than a billion dollars to University of California, Cal State (CalMatters)

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.