[1] Municipal elections in California, including Mayor of Los Angeles, are officially nonpartisan; candidates' party affiliations do not appear on the ballot.

[2] Bowron announced his candidacy for a fourth full term in office, with State Senator Jack Tenney, City Engineer Lloyd Aldrich, and Board of Education member Olin Darby also announcing their intentions to run against Bowron.

[3] In the primary, Bowron and Aldritch advanced to the general runoff election.

[4] Tenney, the head of the House Un-American Activities Committee, was opposed by the AFL Central Labor Council and came in third.

[5] In the runoff election, Bowron defeated Aldritch by a smaller margin, with Bowron calling the election the "dirtiest in [his] experience," due to him and Aldrich being political enemies.