Mayoral Race Takes Shape, With 24 Filing

Real estate broker Steve Soboroff became the only major candidate to signal his intention to pour his own funds into the campaign for mayor of Los Angeles, officially rejecting public matching funds as the election field solidified Tuesday, with six major candidates and 18 lesser-known ones in the race.

The end of the candidate filing period Tuesday followed a holiday-extended weekend in which former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa won a tactical victory in his long battle for the endorsement of the county’s largest labor organization.

Submitting their declarations of intent to run for the post held by Mayor Richard Riordan were Villaraigosa, 47, of Mt. Washington; City Councilman Joel Wachs, 61, of Studio City; Soboroff, 52, of Pacific Palisades; City Atty. James K. Hahn, 50, of San Pedro; state Controller Kathleen Connell, 53, of Bel-Air; and Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra, 42, of Eagle Rock.

Joining the perceived main contenders in the race were a group of lesser-known candidates, including helicopter news pilot Bob Tur, who helped bring the world televised images of trucker Reginald Denny being beaten during the 1992 riots and of O.J. Simpson fleeing Los Angeles police.

The long list of contenders virtually assures that no one will win a majority in the April 10 election. That would force a June 5 runoff between the top two vote-getters.

One crucial voting group in both elections is expected to be union members, who number more than 175,000 in the city. Over the weekend, Villaraigosa and Hahn continued their protracted struggle to become labor’s choice, as their supporters fought behind closed doors for the backing of one of the city’s biggest and most influential labor groups, the Service Employees International Union.

In a meeting of SEIU’s leadership, Villaraigosa’s backers beat Hahn’s supporters to the punch. They engineered a vote that allows each of the union’s seven locals to vote individually for their favorite candidates when the larger Los Angeles County Federation of Labor meets next month to pick its candidate in the mayor’s race.

That means that a majority of the service union’s leaders are likely to support Villaraigosa, a former union organizer, several observers of the SEIU vote said. That support, in turn, may be enough to turn the entire county labor federation in favor of the former Assembly speaker.

Potential Gain for Villaraigosa

The county labor group’s backing is a coup for any candidate because the organization is prepared to unleash a formidable campaign machine that could reach every union member--as well as unaffiliated voters--by telephone, mail and personal visit before election day.

“Of all the candidates, clearly Antonio needs the labor vote and that endorsement,” said Mike Garcia, a Villaraigosa supporter who is president of Local 1877, the SEIU unit that last year won a pay raise for janitors. “If he doesn’t get it, it’s pretty clear how much it hurts. But if he does get it, it’s a tremendous boost.”

Garcia proposed Saturday to allow each of the service employee locals to go its own way in the April election, although they all pledged to come together for the runoff.

Garcia called Villaraigosa a warrior for low- and middle-income workers, who once worked for SEIU, before going on to a post with United Teachers of Los Angeles. Villaraigosa has shown he can work with the business establishment as well by winning the backing of billionaire civic activist Eli Broad and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle.

Hahn’s supporters in labor said they believe the city attorney is their best hope of gaining a stronger voice at City Hall. “City workers are really confident that Hahn has the experience in Los Angeles government and experience in solving problems in Los Angeles to make the city work better for everyone,” said Julie Butcher, general manager for Local 347, representing city workers.

Butcher had hoped that her local would win the day Saturday because of rules that allow the union most directly affected by an endorsement to make its recommendation first. But Garcia’s action Saturday outflanked the city union and prevented a bloc vote for Hahn.

Hahn’s campaign operatives said they were unfazed by the maneuvering over the weekend.

“It’s still a battle for the overall endorsement and we have a lot of work to do,” said Kam Kuwata, a spokesman for the Hahn campaign. “But this endorsement has been Antonio’s to lose all along and we have stopped him so far.”

Declaration on Matching Funds

As they filed their candidacy papers in the last week, the mayoral candidates also declared whether they want to participate in a city program that could bring them as much as $667,000 in public campaign funds. To qualify for the money, the candidates had to agree to remain under an overall spending cap of $2.2 million and to spend less than $100,000 of their own money.

Soboroff was the only one of the major candidates to say he would not take the public money. He is now cleared to spend as much of his own money as he wants--and to break the overall spending cap--as his opponents have long predicted.

To secure a spot on the ballot, a candidate must submit 500 signatures and pay a $300 filing fee or submit 1,000 signatures and pay nothing. The deadline is Feb. 5.

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The Race for City Hall

Candidates filing their declaration of intent to run in the April 10 city election. To stay on the ballot, candidates must collect and submit signatures on nominating petitions by Feb. 5.

MAYOR

Martin Luther King Aubrey Sr.

Xavier Becerra

Rob Black

Kwame A. Boateng

Kathleen Connell

Melrose Larry Green

James Hahn

Wendy Lyons

Addie Mae Miller

Steve Mozena

Sandra W. Bush Noble

Dante Rusciolelli

Duke Russell

Joe Shea

Joseph Smith

Steve Soboroff

Sheldon Tobias

Robert Tur

Francis Della Vecchia

Antonio Villaraigosa

Joel Wachs

Eric Wickland

James Stuart Wiley

Irwin Zucker

*

City Attorney

Lea Purwin D’Agostino

Rocky Delgadillo

Michael Feuer

Frank Tavelman

*

City Controller

J. Paul Brownridge

Laura Chick

Mervin L. Evans

Laurette Healey

Khalil Khalil

Scott William Morris

*

Council District 1

Jean Marie Durand

Agustin Eichwald-Romero

Joseph Glen Lucey

Gonzalo Molina

Jorge Mu~noz

Robert Nakahiro

Richard Polanco

Ed P. Reyes

Edward Rivera

Jesus Rosas

David Sanchez

Christine Whitfield-Azboy

*

Council District 3

Glenn C. Bailey

Tsilah Burman

Frank M. Bush

Jason Dominguez

Judith Hirshberg

Council District 3 (contd.)

Michael McGarr

Francine Oschin

Dennis Zine

*

Council District 5

Jill Barad

Nathan Bernstein

Joe Connolly

Ken Gerston

Tom Hayden

Laura Lake

Constantina Milonopoulos

Stephen Saltzman

Robyn Ritter Simon

Victor N. Viereck

Jack Weiss

*

Council District 7

Alex Padilla

*

Council District 9

Pauline Clay

Woody Fleming

Alexander Gomez

Theodore “Ted” Hayes

C. David Henry

Ocie P. Hinkle

Jan Perry

Carl Washington

*

Council District 11

Cindy Miscikowski

Arthur William Mortell

Eli Shtrum

*

Council District 13

Sandra Farrington-Domingue

Eric M. Garcetti

Arthur Goldberg

Bennett Kayser

Wendy McPherson

Ted Neubauer

Cecilia C. Ramos

Geoffrey V. Saldivar

Conrado Terrazas

Jerry Valdez

David Valdivia

Scott Wildman

Michael Woo

*

Council District 15

Hector Cepeda II

Janice Hahn

Kenneth Hillman

Mark Irvin Lewis

Robert Nizich

Frank O’Brien

Jessye R. Scott-Stafford

*

Source: City clerk’s office