By Andranik Aboyan
Levon Baronian’s new English Language commentary show has just aired its first episode on Alpha News Network. Novelty will center on delivering engaging and profound conversations to an English audience through dialogue between the host Levon Baronian and his varied guests. The guests whether they be experts in their own field, community leaders, or just those with a voice to be heard will be able to provide unique insight to the viewers of Novelty. Novelty will cover a wide breadth of topics ranging from politics of all scales to the fast-paced development of today’s technology and its ramifications.
In its inaugural episode Levon and his guest Rostom Sarkissian a graduate from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and current political science professor at Santa Monica College talk about recent elections, starting with voter turnout trends in California, particularly in Los Angeles County. They analyze reasons for the lower voter turnout, including lack of excitement at the top of the ticket and the dynamics of local races. The conversation shifts to specific races, such as the Los Angeles City Council elections, focusing on candidates’ fundraising efforts, voter turnout, and the impact of campaign strategies on election outcomes. Rostom and Levon further discuss statewide races, including the District Attorney race in LA County, highlighting criticisms of progressive policies and their implications for public safety. They touch on the upcoming presidential election, identifying key swing states and discussing potential outcomes based on current polling data.
A particularly insightful point Levon and Rostom get into actually has to do with breaking a long-established rule for the Los Angeles City Council, that those with the most money win. In City Council District 2 Jullian Burgos with only seventy-four thousand dollars was able to secure 22.34 percent of the vote whilst Adrin Nazarian with six hundred sixty-four thousand dollars and over three-hundred thousand dollars in outside spending was able to secure 37.18 percent of the vote, forcing a runoff between the two candidates. Not only did Nazarian have the money but the invaluable name recognition from serving parts of his district as State Assemblyman, many pundits expected him to win outright. In City Council District 4 a race in which Levon himself was a candidate we saw a somewhat similar situation.
Despite joining the race very late and raising just under forty thousand dollars(for comparison his two opponents Nithya Raman and Ethan Weaver spent two million dollars cumulatively) Baronian was able to pull in about 11 percent of the vote. To really drive this point home if we look at votes per one hundred dollars spent Levon was able to pull in about 18 votes for every hundred. His opponents Raman and Weaver pulled in about four and two votes per hundred dollars spent respectively. These two examples show us that its not so much about how much money you spend but rather how effective is that money spent.
The conversation concludes with speculation about the presidential race and the importance of swing states in determining the outcome. They discuss the possibility of Trump winning the popular vote and the strategies of both campaigns leading up to the election. Overall, the discussion provides a comprehensive analysis of recent political races at both the local and national levels, exploring voter trends, campaign dynamics, and potential outcomes.
