Alarcon Says Mayor Backs Her in Race for Council

Corina Alarcon said Friday that Mayor Richard Riordan has endorsed her candidacy for the City Council seat vacated by her husband, solidifying her front-runner status in the race to represent the north San Fernando Valley’s 7th District.

Alarcon, who filed papers Friday to begin fund-raising for the race, already has the endorsement of her husband, Richard Alarcon, who held the seat until he joined the state Senate on Monday.

Other endorsements will be announced, Corina Alarcon said, but she saw Riordan’s as significant because the popular Republican mayor can broaden her base of support.

“He said he would back me 150%. I’m very excited to have his endorsement,” she said. “He believes in the things I’ve done in the community.”

Deane Leavenworth, a spokesman for the mayor, said Riordan is not yet prepared to announce a formal endorsement in the race, but sources close to the mayor confirmed that Riordan has told Corina Alarcon he supports her.

Lining up key endorsements early is a classic tactic to scare challengers out of the race, said political consultant Joe Cerrell, who is not representing any of the candidates.

Some challengers were not discouraged.

“I respect the mayor a lot,” said Alex Padilla, another declared candidate. “What’s going to matter most is having a grass-roots organization.”

Padilla, who worked to get Richard Alarcon elected to the Senate, said he had hoped to get the mayor’s endorsement, but does have the support of Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), for whom Padilla works as an aide.

Padilla, 25, and Alarcon, 41, both said they will have to raise and spend the maximum allowed for candidates accepting city matching funds--$330,000. That amount is needed to be a “viable candidate” in such a crowded race, said Alarcon, a Sylmar resident.

“I just think that’s how much it costs to get out a good message,” said Alarcon, who runs an insurance office in Mission Hills and is active in a nonprofit group helping abused women.

Indeed, the field of candidates may be large. Nearly 10 people have either said they will or might run.

Those who have announced their candidacy include Padilla and Michael Trujillo, a 19-year-old college student and member of the city’s commission for Children, Youth and Their Families.

Others considering a run include: Fred Flores, an aide to Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills); Corine Sanchez, an attorney who is executive director of the health services charity El Proyecto del Barrio; Tony Lopez, district director of the Boy Scouts of America; Irene Tovar, head of the Latin American Civic Assn.; Leroy Chase, administrator of the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley, and community activist Barbara Perkins.

Corina Alarcon said she has scheduled her first fund-raiser before the end of the year.

A $330,000 campaign war chest would be about average for contested council races this decade, though some have spent much more.

In the 1995 primary election, Barbara Yaroslavsky rejected matching funds, and therefore spending limits, and spent $472,000 in her unsuccessful bid to fill the council seat vacated when her husband, Zev Yaroslavsky, was elected to the county Board of Supervisors.

She forced a runoff with Mike Feuer, who spent $301,000 in the primary, but Feuer won the general election.

In the runoff, Feuer spent $271,000 to Yaroslavsky’s $292,000.

That same year City Councilmen Nate Holden and Richard Alatorre spent $390,000 and $383,000, respectively, in the primary before eventually winning reelection against strong challengers.

Like Barbara Yaroslavsky, Corina Alarcon is expected to be able to tap into the large fund-raising network cultivated by her husband while on the council.

Riordan’s endorsement will also probably help in fund-raising, but some downplayed its political value.

After all, Riordan endorsed Barbara Yaroslavsky in 1995 but she still lost the election. Also that year, Riordan endorsed one of his top advisors, Ted Stein, in the race for city attorney, but Stein could not unseat incumbent James Hahn.

In addition, a slate of charter reform commission candidates backed by the mayor last year did not do well.

“I don’t think his endorsement is all that effective,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg. “His money is [effective]. But I don’t think his endorsement translates into ‘Now you are the front-runner.’ ”