Former rival Kevin James backs Garcetti

All three losing candidates now support councilman over Wendy Greuel.

Kevin James, the Republican attorney who finished third in Los Angeles’ mayoral primary, will endorse top vote-getter Eric Garcetti on Tuesday over runoff rival Wendy Greuel.

“The voters have made a decision and there are two candidates that remain,” James said in an interview Monday evening. “I had to look at both of those candidates and decide which one is best to lead the city forward for the next four years. I think the opportunity for independence is greater with Eric.… The potential for independence he shows in the future I think is significant because of the way labor has lined up for his opponent in this race.”

James, a former conservative talk radio host, was initially not considered a serious candidate in the race. But strong debate performances, shrewd use of media attention and the backing of an independent committee funded by Texas billionaires pushed his bid into relevancy. In his first attempt to win public office, he ended the March 5 primary just ahead of better-known City Councilwoman Jan Perry and received more than 60,000 votes.

James harshly criticized Garcetti and Greuel during the campaign, arguing that their many years of helping set policy at City Hall were responsible for the city’s financial problems. But he was consistently piqued by the millions of dollars spent to boost Greuel’s candidacy by city employee unions, notably the organization representing many workers at the city’s Department of Water and Power, and that played a major role in his decision.

James said that although Garcetti also has labor backing, he has demonstrated the ability to disagree with public employee unions. He noted that Garcetti has faced criticism from labor because he supported an effort to roll back retirement benefits for new hires.

“That willingness to stand toe to toe with the very powerful interests in the city — that’s something that’s attractive to me,” James said.

James said that although he doesn’t agree with Garcetti on all the issues, Greuel has made moves since the primary that troubled him, such as announcing an endorsement by an SEIU