Incumbent Tom Bradley was re-elected over former Mayor Sam Yorty.

[1] It would be the last time a Mayor would be elected to a third term, as voters amended the city charter in 1993 to implement a two-term limit for the office of Mayor.

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

[3][4] Yorty said that he "sees the crime issue as the key to the contest" and was seen as injecting racism into the race by saying to a group of businessmen that "black people are really racist.

"[5][6] Bradley defeated Yorty and the other candidates in a landslide, with some calling the election a "lackluster affair.