With voting for a new mayor now underway in the city of Los Angeles, and 2 weeks remaining until Primary ballots are counted, Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel continue to outdistance all others in the battle to advance to the 2-person 05/21/13 general election runoff, according to SurveyUSA's 3rd pre-primary tracking poll, conducted exclusively for KABC-TV.

Garcetti is at 26% today, Greuel is at 23%, closer than the 2 have been previously and within the survey's theoretical margin of sampling error. Greuel may overtake Garcetti, or Garcetti may hang on and edge Greuel, but the nominal winner will claim mostly bragging rights, since either way, the same 2 candidates will face each other in May.

Compared to SurveyUSA's most recent tracking poll released 18 days ago, on 01/31/13, Garcetti is up 2 points, Greuel is up 3 points. Over 3 polls, Garcetti has led by 8 points, by 4 points and today by 3 points. Jan Perry and Kevin James are further back.

Garcetti continues to lead among Latino voters. Greuel continues to lead among white voters. If Latinos vote in smaller numbers than here forecast, Garcetti will underperform these numbers. If whites vote in larger numbers than here forecast, Greuel will outperform these numbers. The older the electorate, the better Greuel will do. The younger the electorate, the better Garcetti will do.

In the primary for City Attorney of Los Angeles, challenger Mike Feuer has caught incumbent Carmen Trutanich, and the two are tied today at 25% each. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll 18 days ago, when Trutanich had led by 10 points, Feuer is up 6 points, Trutanich is down 4 points. Greg Smith is at 18% today, and leads all candidates among the city's few Republicans. Feuer has overtaken Trutanich among males, seniors and Democrats, and leads by 9 points among white voters. If none of these 3 candidates gets 50% of the primary vote, the top 2 finishers will advance to the 05/21/13 runoff.

Cell-phone and home-phone respondents included in this research: SurveyUSA interviewed 1,000 city of Los Angeles adults 02/14/13 through 02/17/13. Of the adults, 820 were registered to vote. Of the registered, 509 were determined by SurveyUSA to have already voted, or to be likely to return a ballot on or before 03/05/13, Primary Election Day. This research was conducted using blended sample, mixed mode. Respondents reachable on a home telephone (83% of likely voters) were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer. Respondents not reachable on a home telephone (17% of likely voters) were shown a questionnaire on their smartphone, tablet or other electronic device.