1989 Lynwood Mayoral Election (Straight Outta Lynwood)

The 1989 Lynwood Mayoral Election was held on November 3rd, 1989. The election resulted in the win of Democratic nominee Alfred M. Yankovic defeating incumbent mayor, Republican Paul Richards. Alfred M. Yankovic a musician, who was known for award winning albums Even Worse and Dare to Be Stupid, was able to win the democratic primaries against E.L. Morris, thanks to an infamous finance scandal.

4th Mayor of Lynwood, Paul Richards, ran unopposed during the primaries election. Richard ran an aggressive campaign, attacking Yankovic for being an musician who had never held public office, while Yankovic ran on a campaign of an outsider, which resonated with voters after the finance scandal of 1989. Hurting Richard's chances was the fact that his campaign manager was found guilty of possession of marijuana just 2 weeks before election day. The election also represented a period of 3 years Yankovic being mayor, until 1992, when he ran for State House.

Democratic Primary
In a surprise victory, Alfred Yankovic won against E.L. Morris, who served as City Council from 1986.

During the months leading up to the primary, E.L. Morris ran unopposed until November of 1988, when musician and song writer, Alfred M. Yankovic announced that he was running for the democratic nomination. Polls during January of 1989 indicated that Morris had a 15% lead over Yankovic, but by April his lead had shrunk to less than 2.5% due to a Campaign finance scandal involving donations from city budget finances.

On June 15th, the primary debates were held, Morris was unable to defeat Yankovic in the debates, who was more outspoken and charismatic. Polling done a week after the debates showed that Yankovic had a 4 percentage point lead.

Exit polls indicated that younger people, ages 18 to 35 overwhelmingly voted for Alfred M. Yankovic, while people aged 50 and above voted for E.L. Morris. The campaign finance scandal is a major reason why Morris failed to get the democratic nomination.

Results
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

Candidate
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#2633FF; width:200px;"| Alfred M. Yankovic
 * style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|Democratic Disc.svg 1989 Democratic Party Nominee
 * style="width:3em; font-size:125%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|for Mayor
 * 1989 Al Full Picture.png
 * Musician and Song Writer
 * 1989 Al Full Picture.png
 * Musician and Song Writer
 * Musician and Song Writer


 * colspan=2 |Campaign
 * }
 * }

Republican Primary
Mayor of Lynwood, Paul Richards, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination, as a result, not many people voted during the republican primary. Only 60% of last year's voters voted again for this primary.

Results
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

Candidate
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| Paul Richards (Dec 1986–Jan 1989)
 * style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|Republican Disc.svg 1989 Republican Party Nominee
 * - style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#ffd0d7;"
 * style="width:3em; width:200px;"|for Mayor
 * Paul (A Very Weird Timeline).png
 * 4th Mayor of Lynwood
 * 4th Mayor of Lynwood
 * 4th Mayor of Lynwood
 * colspan=2 |Campaign
 * colspan=2 |Campaign