Eric Garcetti

“We need a pro-worker trade approach that puts American jobs - not corporate profits - front and center.”

“The travel that I've spent around the country, I always come back with ideas for L.A. and vice versa: My experiences in L.A. give me an immediacy to issues that sometimes people in Washington think about but aren't experiencing every day.”

“In presidential elections, I think people focus way too much on ideology.”

“The idea of red-washing or blue-washing an entire county because a few more people vote one way or the other does a disservice to the people who live there.”

“I'm a typical mutt American. I have an Italian last name. Half-Mexican, half-Jewish.”

“I think it is time for a radical federalism in this country, where people trust innovation coming from the local level and ramp that up.”

“Cory Booker I've known since 1993. We used to be part of the L'Chaim Society at Oxford University together.”

“I won't let anybody, even the most powerful person in this country, trample our values or our Constitution. And no matter who's in the White House, I am incredibly vigilant about that and will continue to fight that fight.”

“I always say, as a leader, you've got to know when to get out of the way.”

“People will give you the responsibility, even the authority, to go after the big things, the visionary things, the reaching for incredible opportunities, if they trust that you're running a city well. And if you don't run a city well, conversely, you can't do the big things.”

“I am a passionate, committed composer, and the guy I used to write musicals with, once he was able to ditch me and get a better composer, actually won the Tony.”

“I look forward to working with the White House in areas like infrastructure, where President Trump says he wants to spend a trillion dollars. Great - we'd love to start right here in Los Angeles.”

“Aggressive government spending during the Great Recession was absolutely necessary.”

“You see as mayors and local officials our jobs are designed so we have more in common with our constituents than Washington politicians can ever have.”

“I won't be a perfect mayor, but I will be the mayor of a great city.”

“Most people will be primarily getting into autonomous vehicles if we look 20, 30 years out. If we mandate that autonomous vehicles have to be electric, then we will move people into electric vehicles.”

“I'd hate to see new housing building accelerating while taking down buildings where there's 50 people living in rent-stabilized apartments.”

“The questions that consume me, that keep me up at night, are the people that are sleeping on the streets.”

“The problem with the Democratic Party is, we're like, 'If we just get another presidential candidate in there, everything will be OK.' We should be focusing on school boards, city council races, state legislatures.”

“The classic rules of American politics are dying, if not dead, if you look at the last two presidential elections. An African-American could never be president until one was; a TV reality star couldn't become president until one was.”