L.A. Now Live: Mayoral, council races heat up on eve of election day

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Times political reporter Maeve Reston will join L.A. Now Live at 9 a.m. Monday to discuss the final campaign stretch for Los Angeles’ mayoral and council candidates before Tuesday’s vote.

On Sunday, mayoral hopeful Wendy Greuel traded barbs with rivals Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry as the leading candidates dashed across the city in a final burst of weekend campaigning, from Encino and Eagle Rock to Venice Beach and South Los Angeles.

The top contenders to succeed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sought to shore up support with morning visits to churches and afternoon stops at a taco stand, a farmers market and an art gallery.

A new USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll indicated that Garcetti and Greuel are locked in a tie for the lead in the primary, but that their chances of clinching spots in the May runoff rest with a huge swath of likely voters open to switching candidates before the vote.

The survey, taken Feb. 24-27, found Garcetti at 27% and Greuel at a statistically even 25%. Bunched behind the two Democrats were Republican lawyer Kevin James at 15% and Democratic City Councilwoman Perry at 14%. Former technology executive Emanuel Pleitez trailed at 5%.

The survey indicated that none of the major candidates has cultivated deep support among any of the big voter groups that can swing Los Angeles elections. (James has sparked enthusiasm among Republicans and conservatives, but those groups are too small by themselves to push a candidate to victory.)