Ridley-Thomas Gets Bradley Endorsement

Mayor Tom Bradley on Friday endorsed civil rights activist Mark Ridley-Thomas in the runoff election to fill the 8th District City Council seat, which Councilman Robert Farrell is vacating.

The endorsement highlights a rivalry between the mayor and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who endorsed and helped direct the campaign of Roderick D. Wright. Wright will face Ridley-Thomas in the June 4 election.

Bradley and Waters also have endorsed opposing candidates in the runoff for the 9th District council seat vacated when Gilbert Lindsay died last December. In that race, Waters backed longtime Lindsay aide Bob Gay, while Bradley endorsed school board member Rita Walters. Both emerged as front-runners from among a field of 10 candidates in last Tuesday’s primary.

Ridley-Thomas, 36, is on leave as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Los Angeles. At a press conference Friday, Bradley called Ridley-Thomas a leader “who has always been willing to stand up for the community.”

Ridley-Thomas pledged Friday to work on issues ranging from police brutality and gang violence to potholes and high car insurance costs in South-Central Los Angeles.