Rep. Hawkins Sets Off Political Scramble : Campaigns: Assemblywoman Waters appears a cinch to succeed retiree. Her seat is up for grabs in heavily Democratic district.

Within minutes of the surprise announcement six weeks ago that U.S. Rep. Augustus Hawkins would retire after 28 years in office, telephones began jangling across southern Los Angeles County. It was the sound of long-tended political networks cranking up for business.

But not for a battle over the Los Angeles Democrat’s congressional seat.

Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) set her sights on Hawkins’ job years ago, and her prolific fund raising and local popularity has scared off any serious competition. In leap-frog fashion, Hawkins’ departure instead has opened the race for Waters’ Assembly seat and ended a lengthy logjam that has so frustrated the Los Angeles area’s black political community.

Four Democrats, including Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell and former Los Angeles Community College trustee Marguerite Archie-Hudson, are vying to replace Waters. A Republican and a Libertarian--whose very presence in the 84% Democratic district defines optimism--have also joined the race.

The contest is expected to usher in the first significant political movement in the black community since a City Council seat opened up in 1987 and Nate Holden triumphed over a host of competitors. Before that, there had been little movement for years.

“There’s been this gridlock that’s existed for so long in the community,” said Kerman Maddox, a former aide to Mayor Tom Bradley who is considering a run for Farrell’s council seat next year.

Referring to the Assembly race, he said, “Whether they’re with Bob, Marguerite--a lot of people are excited by the prospect of a real aggressive campaign and a good contest.”

And for this district, the June primary is the contest. The 48th Assembly district is the most Democratic in the state. It spreads across South-Central Los Angeles, South Gate and Lynwood with a population that is about 50% black and 37% Latino.

“For all intents and purposes, the Democratic primary is the election,” said Rod Wright, one of the four Democratic candidates.

So far, despite an eagerness born of years of stifled ambitions, the competitors have been gearing up quietly. The candidates say they are tussling with the logistics of a campaign--renting headquarters, ordering telephones, raising money--and hoping to bolt into public view in coming weeks.

“This kind of caught a lot of people by surprise,” Wright said. “It’s not as though people were standing around in January with money in the bank and waiting for people to retire. . . . People are literally having to start from scratch.”

Local powers are beginning to array around favorite candidates. Bradley has endorsed Farrell, and individual labor officials also are rallying around him. A formal endorsement by organized labor, however, has not been made.

Bondie Gambrell, a prominent businessman who has raised money for Bradley, Jesse Jackson and New York Mayor David Dinkins, will be host of a benefit for Archie-Hudson on March 25. Gambrell said she should collect up to $30,000.

Perhaps the most important endorsements will be those by Waters and her close ally, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), a traditional source of campaign funds for those who meet with his favor.

Rumors continue to fly about the duo’s intentions. Many within the black political community expect Waters to back Archie-Hudson--or, less likely, Wright. Few expect her to remove herself from the race, despite her simultaneous congressional effort.

“No one has ever accused Maxine of ducking a fight and I doubt that this is one she’ll miss,” said Wright, a former Waters aide.

Waters, uncharacteristically coy, has offered no timetable for an announcement other than to say, “I hope to do it very soon.”

The assemblywoman’s endorsement would by no means assure success. Four years ago, her effort to prod her son, Edward K. Waters, to victory in the 54th Assembly District backfired. But this year’s endorsement would come in the very district that elected her with almost 85% of the vote just two years ago.

“The person who receives (Waters’ endorsement) will be blessed with a very positive boost to their campaign,” said local public relations consultant Larry Irvin, a former Bradley aide.

There is little dispute about the issues most pressing to the district, because they are those that have dominated urban politics for decades--crime, drugs, gangs, education, health care, jobs, housing, insurance costs.

For Farrell, the most prominent of the contenders, the race provides a chance to move up without risking his council seat. Farrell, 52, is closing out the third year of four-year term in a district that overlaps the 48th.

“For me, it is what is called in the business a free ride,” he said.

Farrell has been the 8th District councilman since 1974, when he won a special election for the job. But his tenure has been rocky.

In 1978, Farrell defeated an effort to recall him. Two years ago, organizers of a second recall fell short of the signatures they needed to put the issue before the voters.

But Farrell remains well known in the South-Central area, an attribute that is even more important given the short period of time before the primary.

Well-known in the past--but likely to see some opposition from organized labor this time around--is Archie-Hudson, who was appointed to the community college board in 1978 and won two successive terms before she was defeated three years ago on the strength of teachers’ union opposition.

Archie-Hudson, a former aide to Assembly Speaker Brown, had Waters’ support in her earlier campaigns. Publicly, she has downplayed the role that endorsements by the powerful Democrats would play in the race.

“In the final analysis, the district is going to have to choose,” said Archie-Hudson, currently the director of research and retention at UCLA’s College of Letters and Science.

Wright’s presence in the race illustrates the intertwined nature of black politics in the Los Angeles area. He was Waters’ administrative assistant and worked on her campaigns and those of other black politicians such as Bradley, state Sen. Diane Watson, Assemblywoman Gwen Moore and Councilman Gilbert Lindsay.

Wright, 37, also has managed the campaigns of one competitor--Archie-Hudson--and worked for the election of another, Farrell. A governmental affairs consultant, Wright said he decided to jump into the 48th Assembly District race because the opportunities for political advancement in predominantly black areas are rare.

“Not only do you not know when (the next opening) will be, you don’t know where you’ll be when it does happen,” Wright said.

If Farrell and Archie-Hudson--and to some extent Wright--are attracting Establishment support, Lynwood City Councilwoman Evelyn Wells is waging what amounts to guerrilla warfare from the eastern side of the district.

The two-term councilwoman plans to question the credentials of her competitors.

“The only problem I have with all of them is which ones have really been involved in the community and really know the concerns of the community?” asked Wells, 43, who works as a financial supervisor for the Lynwood Unified School District.

While she is less prominent than Farrell or Archie-Hudson, Wells’ chances would seem good compared to those of Republican Gloria Salazar and Libertarian Jose Castaneda, both of whom are unknown politically and are battling the district’s overwhelmingly Democratic nature.

Salazar, a 40-year-old employee of the Lynwood Unified School District who is making her first bid for elective office, remains optimistic despite the paltry 9.8% GOP registration in the district. She said she hopes to win crossover votes from Democratic Latinas.

“Since I’m a community person, I felt this would be good for me,” she said of her effort.

Like Wells, Salazar’s base is in the eastern area of the district. Because she has no primary opposition, Salazar said she probably will concentrate her efforts in the summer and fall.

An even longer shot, if similarly unperturbed by the odds, is Castaneda, a 30-year-old Jack-in-the-Box manager from South Gate who is making his second bid for the Assembly seat. In 1986, he won 1,360 votes as the Libertarian candidate.

“I thought I did pretty good,” he said. And his chances this time?

“I think they’re pretty good.”