Latino Seat Is No Sure Thing, Says a Mr. Wong

Although the new 1st District was created with the intention of increasing Latino representation on the Los Angeles City Council, the seat representing the Eastside area is “not reserved for a Hispanic candidate,” an Asian-American contender for the office said Wednesday.

Leland Wong said at a Chinatown press conference surrounded by supporters, including bank executives, that he intends to raise $200,000 to campaign for the seat, to be decided in a special election Feb. 3.

The district covers Chinatown, Cypress Park, Echo Park, parts of Highland Park, Mount Washington, and the Pico-Union and Temple-Beaudry areas. It was created by the council earlier this year after the U.S. Justice Department filed suit accusing the city of splitting up council districts in Latino neighborhoods and thus diluting Latino political strength.

Whether or not Wong proves to be a major candidate, his presence in the race points up a little-considered political fact in the new district: although the council succeeded in structuring a district that is 69% Latino in population, Latinos represent only about 40% of registered voters in the area. About 45% of the registered voters are Anglo and 15% are Asian.

The meaning of the numbers is that the election of a Latino is not a sure thing--”not a slam dunk,” as one political analyst put it--although the two best-known candidates, Assemblywoman Gloria Molina and school board member Larry Gonzalez, are Latinos.

Bruce Cain, professor of political science at Caltech and the main consultant in helping the council redraw council boundaries in response to the federal lawsuit, said that the election of a Latino, while widely expected, “is not a certainty. The winner of that seat will be the person who plays coalitional politics best, with Hispanics, with whites, with Asians, and with the very small number of blacks in the district.”

Richard Fajardo, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund, which joined the Justice Department in its lawsuit against the city, said that the number of Latinos registered to vote in the district “is real low compared to their population, but it was the best we could do under the circumstances. Part of the reason people were not registering to vote to participate in the process was because the communities had been so fragmented. Once people are unified and feel they have a stake, they tend to register.”

As part of the redistricting settlement, Fajardo added, the city agreed to support a program to encourage Latino immigrants to become U.S. citizens, and for more Latino citizens to become registered voters. But the program is not likely to start in time to affect the special Feb. 3 election, he said.

Wong Wednesday accused Gonzalez and Molina of being pawns of “machines”--Gonzalez of Councilman Richard Alatorre and state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), and Molina of City Hall, a reference to her support from City Council President Pat Russell and council members Joel Wachs, Marvin Braude and Joy Picus. Both Molina and Gonzalez have said they are independent of those who have endorsed them.

Ironically, Wong, a planner and former head of a nonprofit group, said he has walked precincts on behalf of Gonzalez and Torres in the past, and he worked closely with Alatorre’s office during the redistricting process on behalf of Asian groups.

Wong said he would be talking to Councilman Michael Woo, the council’s only Asian representative, although Molina and Gonzalez also are seeking Woo’s endorsement. During the thorny redistricting process, when plans called for Woo to be placed in a predominantly Latino district, Woo argued that an Asian probably could not win election in a largely Latino district.

“Mr. Woo is entitled to his opinion,” Wong said. “My opinion is that people are not going to vote on color. . . . All the voters in this district care less about ethnicity and more about . . . how is local government going to work for the people.”

Like Woo did when he ran successfully last year, Wong said he hopes to tap Asian-American money not only in Los Angeles, but in San Francisco and statewide. His campaign treasurer is Terry Loo, assistant vice president of Home Savings of America. Other supporters attending the press conference included Poi Wong, senior vice president of First Pacific Bank.

Fifteen others also have filed papers to run for the seat, although some are expected to drop out by the Dec. 1 withdrawal deadline. With so many candidates, a runoff, probably in April, appears likely.