Veteran politician will challenge Mejia in L.A. city controller race

Isadore Hall, a former state lawmaker, says the incumbent's office is poorly managed.

- BY JULIA WICK

IF ELECTED next year, 52-year-old Isadore Hall would be Los Angeles' first Black city controller.

Isadore Hall, a former state legislator and Compton City Council member, launched a campaign Monday to challenge Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia.

Mejia, a young leftist who electrified the typically staid race for controller in 2022, announced his own reelection bid earlier this month.

Hall, who is backed by a slew of prominent endorsers, argues that Mejia has been more focused on “social media theatrics” than protecting tax dollars.

He said he would bring commonsense leadership and accountability, citing his lengthy track record in elected office and master's degrees in management and public administration, as well as experience weeding out government waste and fraud in Compton.

Hall, who moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and represented parts of the city in both the Assembly and the state Senate, said he launched his bid after being asked by “some elected officials,” along with several pastors and labor leaders, though he declined to provide specifics.

“We are humbled that the political establishment has recruited one of their friends to run against us because it means that we are effective at doing our job as City Controller. I was never ‘urged’ by other politicians to run for City Controller; I ran because I wanted to serve the people of L.A. and fix a broken City Hall,” Mejia said Monday in a statement that also touted his credentials as a certified public accountant.