Alatorre’s Victory Formula: Intensity

The key to his victory, said Councilman-elect Richard Alatorre, was on his wall.

At his Eagle Rock campaign headquarters Wednesday, the assemblyman and soon-to-be councilman of the Eastside 14th District pointed to rolls of paper on the wall, full of names of volunteers, walkers and phone helpers.

But Alatorre’s big 60% victory, in which he swept all but a handful of the Eastside’s 102 precincts, capturing neighborhoods both Anglo and Latino, was representative of more than volunteer help.

Alatorre’s campaign tapped into a long-existing network of political supporters who for years “worked the streets” for former Councilman Arthur K. Snyder and worked them for Alatorre during the 10-week campaign; he mailed out thousands of absentee ballot applications--and won 69% of the absentee vote; he pushed an intense promotional mail program to district households; he sponsored giveaways, like potted plants and posters passed out door-to-door, and a $5,000 scholarship lottery.

And voters responded well to Alatorre, either out of conviction or exhaustion from the barrage of direct-mail campaigning.

It was an effective campaign that Alatorre wanted to savor Wednesday, but questions about his plans as the first Latino councilman in Los Angeles in more than 20 years kept cropping up. He will assume office and resign as assemblyman as soon as City Clerk Elias Martinez certifies the city election, which he must do within two weeks.

His priorities as councilman, Alatorre said at a press conference, will be “crime, housing and jobs.” He said he will also push for adequate police protection, better police response time to the Eastside, and more Community Redevelopment Agency housing for the area.

Alatorre said that early in the campaign he had driven around the 14th District with Snyder, the 18-year incumbent whose resignation made Tuesday’s election necessary. Snyder, now a full-time lawyer and lobbyist who endorsed Alatorre, “showed me some specifics of the district,” Alatorre said. “I know more in detail now some of the problems of the individual communities. As an assemblyman I looked at the big picture, but as councilman you’ve got to know all the potholes and street lights.”

Snyder described Alatorre’s new job as “sort of like a neighborhood plumber relative to municipal services. It’s a community of largely immigrant people. . . . You have to seek out their problems and work to solve those problems.”

“He’s also got to confront the fact that some Hispanics think that suddenly there’s going to be a magic wand waved over them and some wonderful thing is going to happen because they’ve got a Hispanic councilman,” added Snyder, who was repeatedly challenged by Latino opponents. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Alatorre, a high-ranking Democrat in the Assembly who headed the Governmental Organization Committee, will be in a less partisan setting on the council and will be its junior member.

Nevertheless, expectations are high for Alatorre, who is likely to receive some national attention as a Latino serving on a council representing a city with a large Latino population. “I don’t think he is going to be any different in terms of servicing the community,” said state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles). “Where the difference lies is that he is now a national symbol. And when you consider that now he has the potential to represent all of the Latinos in Los Angeles, it’s really a page in history.”

While Alatorre said Wednesday he is comfortable with the talk of the “national” significance of his election, he noted that “there are many spokespersons for the Hispanic community.”

Another Latino political veteran, who asked not be identified, said that he did not expect Alatorre’s style to be markedly different from Snyder’s. “Art was a good horse trader, and Richard is also a you-scratch-my-back kind of guy. One reason many people are glad he was elected by the people, and not appointed by the council, is that he would have been too beholden to eight people on the City Council, and he’s the kind of guy that would have felt indebted.”

Alatorre may have a difficult choice in deciding who to endorse to succeed him in the Assembly. His longtime aide, Richard Polanco, said Wednesday that he is “definitely” running to replace Alatorre in the 55th Assembly District. But Los Angeles school board member Larry Gonzales also said Tuesday night, “I’m seriously considering” running, and he already has the enthusiastic backing of several Latino elected officials, including Torres and Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles).

When asked who he would support to replace him, Alatorre said he did not want to “deal with that issue” now. “Hopefully we can consolidate our effort and come up with the best and most qualified candidate. Obviously Richard Polanco was instrumental in my victory; he’s my friend.” Alatorre once before backed Polanco in an Assembly race against Molina, who won.

Times Staff Writer Ted Vollmer contributed to this article.