A. J. Barnes was the first person to represent the 12th district of the Los Angeles City Council under the new charter in 1925. He served until 1927. Barnes, a contractor and real-estate man"For Supervisoral Posts," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 29, 1926, page B-2
/ref> who had lived in Los Angeles since 1904, was elected to the City Council in 1925, but failed in a re-election bid in 1927, when he lost the primary election to Douglas Eads Foster and Clarence W. Horn by just seven votes, determined only after a recount was held. Barnes was known as a supporter of Mayor George E. Cryer, and he was endorsed by organized labor. The 12th District at that time was bounded by Main Street,

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

, Temple Street, Fountain Avenue and Hoover Street. Barnes ran unsuccessfully for the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member Board of Supervisors, governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Se ...

two times. After his City Council service, he became a field secretary for Supervisor J. Don Mahaffey. In 1932 he was active in a protest movement against a proposal to give the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

preferential rights to use the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

during the football season. In 1934, Barnes was secretary of the California Progressive Party State Central Committee and caused a stir when he resigned his position in protest of the party's support of Raymond L. Haight in the gubernatorial election that year and urged support for Governor Frank Merriam in order to avoid giving the election to

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, the End Poverty in California candidate. Barnes ran as the Progressive Party's candidate for the state Board of Equalization later that year and came in third."Shontz Vote Crushes Foe," ''Los Angeles Times,'' November 8, 1934
/ref>

References

Other sources

* ''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850–1938,'' compiled under the direction of the Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles, March 1938 (reprinted 1966) ------- {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, A. J. Los Angeles City Council members California Progressives (1924)