After nearly two years of campaigning, the next Mayor of Los Angeles will be Eric Garcetti. Current City Controller Wendy Greuel called Garcetti to concede early Wednesday morning.
The two former council allies spent a combined $33 million tearing each other down through attack ads, mailers, and billboards. In the end, the election was decided by about 8 points.
Garcetti now inherits a City that has started recovering from a long and painful recession. However, the return of funds means that Garcetti will have the challenge of prioritizing budgeting, deferred projects, and other strains that will emerge on the weakened City finances. One of the potential pitfalls he will have to negotiate are sidewalk repairs that could run into the billions of dollars.