Column: Voters in Kevin de León’s district support recalling him. Now comes the hard part

Then-mayoral candidate and current Los Angeles Councilmember Kevin de Leon, second from right, talks on the phone with potential voters at his campaign headquarters during the 2022 L.A. mayoral race Kevin de León has started his 2023 just the way he wants: slithering his way back to a sense of normalcy. A Los Angeles Times poll released Jan. 22 shows that a majority of registered voters in De León’s district want him outta here. More tellingly, 55% of Latinos questioned in The Times poll thought that protests against De León — which have included campouts outside his home and activists yelling at him during a Christmas toy giveaway that led to the councilmember shoving one to the ground — have been “fair” and “hold him accountable.” That’s more than the 46% of white voters who feel the same. Considering that Latinos make up more than half of District 14’s voting-age population, De León faces almost certain defeat if the recall ever makes it to voters, based on these poll results. Typical of this thinking is the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which issued a statement on its website last month saying that it wants De Leon recalled but advises fellow travelers to “be skeptical” of the current campaign because of its proponents’ “conservative messaging.” That’s an allusion to Pauline Atkins, the Eagle Rock resident who led two previous unsuccessful attempts to recall De León based largely on her distaste for his homeless policy and has posted pro-Trump messages on her Facebook page.