Galanter’s Workers Say They’ll Press On

Campaign workers for Los Angeles City Council candidate Ruth Galanter, stunned and shocked after she was critically wounded in a pre-dawn stabbing attack, vowed Wednesday to press ahead with their grass-roots challenge of incumbent Pat Russell.

But at the same time, election officials were dusting off a little known City Charter section that can be triggered if Galanter is unable or unwilling to continue as a candidate.

According to the City Charter, the person with the next-highest vote total would become the candidate “in the event of the death, resignation or other disqualification of any candidate” who qualified in the primary.

Writer Placed Third

In that event, Patrick McCartney, a free-lance writer who placed third in last month’s primary with 16% of the votes, would face Russell in the June 2 runoff.

McCartney, 38, now a policy adviser to the Galanter campaign, said Wednesday that if he ultimately is called upon to square off against Russell, he will. But he added, “I am praying and hoping that (Galanter) is able to campaign soon.”

Wednesday night, McCartney was scheduled to appear on Galanter’s behalf at a local Democratic gathering. He said he would do anything her campaign required in light of her injuries.

“I had already agreed to make personal appearances for Ruth,” McCartney said. “That appears to be more important now.”

‘Matter of Courtesy’

McCartney said that “as a matter of courtesy” he would contact Galanter’s campaign about a possible replacement candidacy. He added that if he ultimately became the runoff challenger he would seek a delay in the election to give him a chance to mount an effective campaign. George Buchanan, senior assistant city attorney, said, however, that since absentee ballots have been available since Monday, it seems unlikely that the date of the June 2 election can be changed.

“I don’t think it could be delayed. I may be wrong, but I don’t think so,” Buchanan said.

At Galanter headquarters in Westchester, somber campaign workers, many of them red-eyed, were answering a non-stop series of phone calls from supporters anxiously seeking information on the candidate’s injuries and medical condition. The volunteers knew little, but all were reassuring callers that the challenger would recover fully from her injuries.

Planning to Continue

“I’m just a volunteer here and I plan to vote for Galanter,” one campaign worker told a caller. “She’s not dead; she’s alive.”

But seasoned campaign staff were very aware that even if Galanter is able to continue her quest for the council and decides to do so, time is running out and changes will probably have to be made in their strategy.

Reached in Washington, Ben Goddard, Galanter’s campaign consultant, said: “We’ve all had to stop and think (about what to do next).

“(But) it would be premature to make any specific plans or comments until we see how long her recovery period will be.”