Rivals go to church to seek votes

Candidates for a rare open seat on the county Board of Supervisors visited black churches large and small Sunday, hoping to grab last-minute support before Tuesday’s vote in one of the most vigorously contested election campaigns in decades.

State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) and Councilman Bernard C. Parks focused their remaining hours attending several Sunday services at churches throughout the 2nd Supervisorial District, each highlighting their differences and urging congregants to turn out for the Tuesday election.

It was the final push in a months-long campaign that promises to change the dynamic of the powerful five-member board.

On Saturday, both campaigns held major events as they tried to reach undecided voters. Parks began an 18-hour bus tour across the sprawling district, which stretches from Culver City and Mar Vista to Watts and Compton, Lynwood and Carson.

Ridley-Thomas held a get-out-the-vote rally, convened several strategy meetings and took up an invitation to visit the New Millennium Barbershop in Leimert Park to talk politics.

Simultaneously, hundreds of volunteers from both campaigns have manned phone banks and knocked on doors.

But on the last weekend day before the election, the candidates turned to those among the most likely to head to the polls: churchgoers.

So along with entourages that included elected officials, business leaders and community activists, Parks and Ridley-Thomas crammed into church pews to make their case -- and knock each other.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), one of the county’s most powerful black politicians and a Parks supporter, sought to turn congregations against Ridley-Thomas by invoking the closure of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Medical Center. Both candidates have said reopening the long-troubled hospital in Willowbrook would be their top priority.

“The opponent said, ‘Close the hospital,’ she told churchgoers at Hays Tabernacle Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in South Los Angeles. “Now he says, ‘Oh no, I meant close the trauma center.’ Well, we all know that the trauma center is the hospital.”

(Ridley-Thomas said in 2004 that he favored closing the trauma center if that would save the rest of the hospital.)

Waters repeated the criticism at church stops throughout the day, energizing congregants before Parks took the microphone. Others who joined him Sunday included Los Angeles City Council members Herb Wesson and Jan Perry, as well as Culver City Mayor Alan Corlin.

“My No. 1 issue is healthcare,” Parks said. “I’m going to guarantee you that Martin Luther King hospital is going to open again as a first-class hospital. We need your votes. We need your support. We need your prayers.”

Ridley-Thomas used his delegation, which included state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), state Board of Equalization Chairwoman Judy Chu and several leaders in the health and business communities, in an attempt to highlight his diverse base of support.

“You can’t do it by yourself,” he told the crowd at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in South Los Angeles. “I’m trying to represent you in a way you’ve never seen before.”

Because churches are nonprofits and thus tax-exempt, they are required to remain politically neutral. But pastors on Sunday managed to communicate their preferences despite the law.

“I can’t give political endorsements,” Bishop Charles Blake told congregants at the 13,000-member West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Southwest Los Angeles. “But I do love [Ridley-Thomas]. Brother Thomas does not come to us just on election time. He’s practically a member of the family.”

This is how a Parks-friendly pastor put it: “We can’t tell you what to do, but you know who I like,” said the Rev. Joseph Gardner of Hays Tabernacle. “If you’re not sure, come over later and I’ll tell you.”

Each candidate has received endorsements from powerful segments of the county. Parks, a former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, has the backing of several business interests, including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Business Federation.

Ridley-Thomas, a former assemblyman and city councilman, is heavily supported by the powerful public employees unions, which have raised a record $4 million on his behalf.

Both say they’re ready for Tuesday.

“Amazingly, I have a large amount of energy,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Parks downplayed the sleepless weekend.

“This is like lunchtime,” he said.

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jp.renaud@latimes.com