Janice Hahn, Elan Carr score big endorsements in county supervisor races

Two candidates seeking different seats on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors got some big political endorsements this week: Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican, is supporting Rep. Janice Hahn (D-San Pedro), and a leading law enforcement group is backing Deputy Dist. Atty. Elan Carr.

The Hahn campaign announced Wednesday that Riordan chose her over two Republicans in the race to succeed Supervisor Don Knabe, also a Republican, who must leave the board next year due to term limits.

“Los Angeles County needs experienced and proven leaders like Janice Hahn on the Board of Supervisors,” Riordan said in a statement issued by the Hahn campaign, adding, “I know she will make an outstanding representative for the residents of the 4th District.”

Also running are former Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin and former Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano, a senior aide to Knabe. The supervisor has not said whether he will endorse any candidate in the race.

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FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this post omitted Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian from the list of candidates running to succeed Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

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Carr scored the backing Tuesday of the influential Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, which bills itself as the state’s largest law enforcement organization with more than 67,000 members.

Carr is one in a crowded field of early candidates vying to succeed longtime Republican Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who is also termed out next year.

The race for Antonovich’s seat is considered wide open so far, with Carr among several first-tier candidates, all Republicans.

The backing of the law enforcement group could be important for Carr as he tries to pull away from a field that also includes state Sen. Robert Huff of Diamond Bar, the Senate minority leader; Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian; Kathryn Barger, Antonovich’s chief of staff; and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, a strong fundraiser who is well know in the northwestern San Fernando Valley. Antonovich has endorsed Barger.

Marshall McClain, director of the law enforcement group’s Los Angeles South Chapter, cited Carr’s experience as a prosecutor. “More than ever we need a crime fighter on the Board of Supervisors,” McClain said in a statement released by the Carr campaign.

Other early candidates in the race to succeed Antonovich include Altadena Town Council member Bill Malone, Democratic businessman Raj Pal Kahlon of Palmdale and South Pasadena engineer and businessman Alan S. Reynolds. Malone and Reynolds are not affiliated with a political party.

Follow @jeanmerl for the latest in Southern California politics news.