Renegade's Triumph

From the start of the ballot counting, the cocksure little Democrat led Incumbent Republican Norris Poulson in Los Angeles' "nonpartisan" mayoralty election. But when Sam Yorty, 51, hung on to win an upset 16,000-vote victory last week, there was precious little celebrating among California's Democratic leaders. Indeed, most of them blanched in dismay --for in a state filled with dissident Democrats, Yorty is perhaps the most dissident of all.

Open to Argument. Arriving in California at age 17 with $80 in his pocket, Nebraska-born Sam Yorty went to the University of Southern California and Southwestern University Law School, worked at jobs ranging from auto salesman to haberdasher, passed the California bar in 1936, and that same year was elected to the California legislature. In his early political days, Yorty was a shocking-pink liberal, much in demand as a speaker for leftist causes. Since then--in the course of three terms in the state assembly and two in the U.S. House of Representatives--Yorty has changed. But even today, his ideological position remains open to argument. "All the reactionaries call me liberal and all the liberals call me reactionary." says Yorty. "A real liberal is probably the most anti-Communist of anybody, and we're the most hated by the Communists."

In 1956 Yorty sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator--and saw it go to State Senator Richard Richards, who was later defeated in the general election. Yorty broke completely with the

Democratic Party, began denouncing his fellow Democrats, and has been doing it ever since. Richard Richards, said Yorty. "not only has a double name, he is a master of double talk." Democratic Governor Edmund G. ("Pat") Brown is a favorite Yorty target: "Unless Brown intends to start conducting himself like a big-leaguer, he had better stay in the minor leagues." In 1960 Yorty took out after Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kennedy: "He has destroyed the integrity of the Democratic Party by the abuse of the power of lavish amounts of money, and a calculated exploitation of his religious affiliation. I cannot take Kennedy." In the campaign, Yorty backed Nixon.

Slugfest. Last April Yorty again sallied forth against the will of party leaders, surprised everyone by finishing close enough to Poulson in a nine-candidate election for mayor to force last week's runoff. Opposed by leaders of both parties and by all four major Los Angeles dailies. Yorty fought his special kind of bare-knuckled campaign. He cried out against the "entrenched downtown interests," vowed to fire the whole police commission if elected, and questioned darkly how Poulson could afford a cattle spread in Oregon worth, or so Yorty claimed, a cool $250,000.

Famed in Los Angeles as the gladdest glad-hander of them all, Norris Poulson made the mistake of trying to slug it out with Yorty. He linked Yorty with Nevada gamblers, claimed his opponent had underworld support. Yorty sued for $3,300,000 for slander. Suffering from a severe case of laryngitis, Poulson also made the tactical error of appearing on television shows with the vigorous Yorty, left the impression that he was a sick and tired old man.

Knowing when he was licked, Poulson last week conceded a scant three hours after the polls closed. Yorty's triumph changed a lot of California political equations. As mayor of Los Angeles, Sam Yorty's influence would have to be reckoned with. But how would he use that in fluence? Would he support Richard Nixon if Nixon were to run for Governor next year against Pat Brown? Or might he try to unseat Brown himself? Nobody knew, least of all Yorty. But one thing is certain: in one way or another. Mayor Sam Yorty will be in the thick of California's political fighting for quite a while.

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