LOS ANGELES — L.A.'s local election campaigns traditionally have been framed around neighborhood-level issues — crime, housing, traffic congestion and, in more recent years, the homelessness crisis.
But this year, the bloody invasion of Ukraine by Russia could change that. Several candidates in the June 7 election have begun criticizing the Democratic Socialists of America, whose supporters in L.A. are looking to unseat at least two City Council members, over the group's response to the overseas conflict.
Days after Russian troops entered Ukraine, the DSA issued a statement calling for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO, which serves as a defense pact for much of Europe and North America. Although the statement denounced Russia's decision to invade, it also argued against further intervention in Ukraine, and said the U.S. should end the "imperialist expansionism that set the stage for this conflict."
