LA City Councilmembers Choose Marqueece Harris-Dawson As Their Next President

The Los Angeles City Council has chosen its next president — and city hall observers say the decision represents another step left in an ongoing progressive shift within local politics.

Fourteen members voted Tuesday to elect Marqueece Harris-Dawson as the council’s next leader. The body’s 15th member, Monica Rodriguez, was absent. Harris-Dawson will assume the role on Sept. 20, when current council President Paul Krekorian is set to step aside.

“Until September, expect to see me with my head down, studying as hard as we can so we can be as prepared as possible when we take leadership of this council,” Harris-Dawson said after the vote.

Harris-Dawson has represented the 8th district in South L.A. since 2015. He was nominated for council president last week by seven council members, including those in the council’s progressive wing.

Progressives further cement power in city hall

Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said the decision to elevate Harris-Dawson shows that the council is starting to catch up with L.A.’s increasingly left-wing voters.

“This is the most progressive city council in the history of Los Angeles,” Guerra said. “And Marqueece Harris-Dawson will be the most progressive president of the city council in L.A. history.”

(Guerra is an honorary lifetime trustee for Southern California Public Radio, which owns and operates LAist.)

As chair of the planning and land use committee and a member of the housing committee, Harris-Dawson has generally supported expanded tenant rights and eviction protections. On Tuesday, he presented a motion with two of the council’s progressives, Nithya Raman and Eunisses Hernandez, aimed at pushing the city to explore new social housing models.

Guerra said he expects Harris-Dawson to increase the council’s focus on housing, renter protections and climate change.

“The emerging progressive coalition will put meat into a lot of the general policies that have already been articulated,” Guerra said.

Expect more budget debates

Progressive candidates have won significant victories in recent elections, including Hugo Soto-Martinez’s 2022 victory over incumbent Mitch O’Farrell in a district covering much of Hollywood. Raman successfully defended her seat against a well funded challenger in this year’s primary election. And tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado is hoping to secure another progressive victory in her campaign to unseat Kevin De Leon this November.

Raphe Sonenshein, executive director of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, said Harris-Dawson’s presidency could bring budgetary disagreements to the fore, including the police budget, “which have sort of divided some of the progressive members from some of the more centrist members of the council.”

Raman, Hernandez and Soto-Martinez — who all backed Harris-Dawson for the council presidency — voted against Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed budget last week, with some citing concerns over increased spending on the LAPD.

Harris-Dawson and Bass go way back

However, Harris-Dawson will have to balance the progressive agenda with the demands of the council’s more moderate liberal wing. City hall watchers expect him to remain close allies with Bass. They each began their careers as community organizers, both serving as president of the South L.A.-based nonprofit Community Coalition.

“The new council president is very close to the mayor,” Sonenshein said, and that’s significant because “the most important relationship at city hall for getting things done is the mayor and the city council president.”

Krekorian — who as president attempted to stabilize the council in the wake of the seismic L.A. Fed tapes scandal — is stepping down because he is termed out and will exit the council later this year. During Tuesday’s meeting he wished Harris-Dawson success in the new role.