Mogul, Zinger Quit Race for City Attorney, Endorse Hahn

Dark-horse candidates Betsy Mogul and Charles Zinger withdrew Wednesday from the city attorney’s race and endorsed the front-runner, City Controller James Hahn.

The two veteran deputy city attorneys said that Hahn, a former deputy himself, is the only qualified candidate with a chance to win. They said that apparent second-place challenger Lisa Specht, who has never worked in a city attorney’s office, lacks sufficient experience for the post.

Hahn predicted that the joint decision by Mogul and Zinger to endorse him would have a “dramatic effect” on next Tuesday’s municipal primary election. But Hahn declined to declare that his battle to avoid a runoff with Specht has been won.

To avoid a June 4 runoff, Hahn must get more than 50% of the primary vote. His own polls and several independent voter surveys show him having the support of between 36% and 44% of those polled. But a significant number of voters say they are still undecided.

May Affect Undecided

Hahn campaign manager Joe Trippi said the endorsement by Mogul and Zinger probably will not draw support from Specht, but will help undecided voters make up their minds in the campaign’s closing days.

Both Specht and the other remaining candidate, attorney Murray Kane, played down the Zinger-Mogul development as “insignificant.” They noted that voter surveys show that neither Zinger nor Mogul had much support anyway.

Mogul and Zinger will remain on ballots despite their withdrawal, because the ballots already have been printed.

The two told a press conference, called by Hahn, that they had concluded last week that their low-budget campaigns were heading nowhere when Specht was endorsed editorially by The Times.

Discussed Options

Zinger and Mogul said that The Times’ editorial overstated Specht’s abilities while playing down their own. They said that, after the editorial appeared, they discussed their options and notified Hahn on Monday that they would withdraw and endorse him.

Final details were worked out late Tuesday night, only hours after two local television stations released poll results showing that Specht had seized sole possession of second place, less than two weeks after she began a $360,000 television ad campaign. The same polls showed Kane, Zinger and Mogul--in that order--trailing far behind.

“Do not waste your vote on me,” Zinger said in endorsing Hahn. Zinger, 54, won nearly 18% of the 1981 primary election vote for city attorney, forcing Ira Reiner into a runoff. Zinger said he spent about $6,200 on this year’s campaign, most of it on campaign signs. He said he has $129,000 available to him in loans and pledges, which he will return.

Zinger, a 22-year veteran of the city attorney’s office, said he will retire if Specht is elected. He said it would be “embarrassing” to be her deputy.

Mogul, 38, a deputy city attorney for 11 years, expressed the hope that Specht “would view (the endorsement of Hahn) in the context of my desire to see the best result for the city.”

Kane, meanwhile, conceded that Specht has a firm hold on second place, saying: “I think the polls speak for themselves.” But he added that he has no plans to withdraw or endorse either Hahn or Specht, both of whom he has repeatedly attacked during the campaign.

“We just have to take it one step at a time,” Kane said.