Column: De León, lapped by mayoral front-runners in heavily Latino L.A., begins last-ditch sprint

He always orders the same thing, said chef Pat Chinda. Corned beef hash, and make sure the edges are crispy.

But De León shook it up, ordering sausage and eggs, with chili flakes cooked into the sausage.

Now De León is trying to shake up his campaign and turn up the heat. With just over a week to go, he’s trying to catch front-runners Rick Caruso and Karen Bass.

“I was at a kickoff for a youth program and a 10-year-old Latina came up to me and said, ‘Are you going to beat Caruso?’” De León told me. “And I said, ‘I’m sure going to try.’”

Is it already too late?When he entered the race last fall, a few months ahead of Caruso, De León — the first Latino ever to lead the state Senate — looked like he’d be a top contender. He’s a liberal Democrat in […]

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