CA: Hahn, rivals contend for Democratic endorsement (LA Mayor race)

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/18/05 | AP - Los Angeles

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Having backed the loser over a fellow Democrat the last time, the county Democratic Party is pondering again which way to throw its support in the March 8 mayoral election primary.

Although Los Angeles elections are nonpartisan, the endorsement brings financial support from the party as well as symbolic weight in a heavily Democratic city. But it is no guarantee of success, as the 2001 election showed when the party's anointed candidate, former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, lost in a runoff to City Attorney James Hahn.

The current primary pits Hahn, now the mayor, against Villaraigosa, now a city councilman, and several other candidates.

To claim the endorsement being decided Tuesday night, a candidate needed the support of 60 percent of the roughly 200 members of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. But party members could fail to agree on a choice, given the high threshold to award the endorsement and the fact that the five leading contenders are all Democrats.

Villaraigosa appeared to have the most to lose. Since he won the endorsement four years ago, any other outcome would represent a stinging setback. Hahn also has already snatched away the backing of the influential Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which endorsed Villaraigosa in 2001.

Raphael Sonenshein, a political scientist at California State University, Fullerton, predicted the endorsement would be "another milestone along the way" but not a decisive factor in the campaign.

Traditionally, "parties have been weak" in Los Angeles, compared with political machines in cities like New York, Sonenshein said. While candidates eagerly seek the endorsement, it's only "another piece of the puzzle," he said.

[LA Conservative]

King James will pay for trying to put the kabosh on Valley secession aspirations.

[FreedomSurge]

Demographics are on Villaraigosa's side.