Reiner’s Loss Muddies L.A.’s Political Waters

Six months ago, the race for the Democratic state attorney general nomination was viewed more like a royal ascension than a down-to-the-wire nail-biter.

But on Tuesday, the nationally visible head of the largest prosecutorial office in the nation lost by a 52%-48% margin to a previously little-known man once described by his own campaign manager as “bald (and) inarticulate.”

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner refused to comment Wednesday on the implications of his stunning defeat by his San Francisco counterpart, Arlo Smith, saying only that he will support Smith in the general election and will run for reelection as district attorney in 1992.

But political observers said Reiner’s loss could prove a crippling, if not mortal, blow to the aspirations of the camera-ready Reiner, 54. And they added that the results could create a local political logjam.

“Many people already figured that City Atty. Jim Hahn would be Reiner’s successor and that nobody really could stop Jim from getting it and that people would be scurrying around to take Jim’s place,” said Kam Kuwata, a Democratic campaign consultant. “So there were some long faces and they weren’t necessarily people who were pro-Ira, but pro-themselves moving up.”

Hahn declined to speculate on his own future Wednesday, saying he is happy serving as city attorney, the position that Reiner held before becoming district attorney in 1984.

If Hahn attempted to move up the elective ladder without taking on Reiner, the next step would be the 1993 race for mayor, should five-term Mayor Tom Bradley step aside.

For that matter, some say, Reiner might enter the mayor’s race regardless of who runs--unless he proved so vulnerable that he lost his current position in 1992.

“It’s a wide-open field,” said City Councilman Richard Alatorre, who is mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate along with fellow council members Zev Yaroslavsky and Michael Woo. “I could see Reiner or Hahn running for mayor.”

Hahn’s chief deputy, John Emerson, said Wednesday that all the scenarios created by Reiner’s sudden descent are speculative.

“The point about Los Angeles politics is it is going to be extraordinarily fluid,” said Emerson, a likely candidate for city attorney if Hahn moves on. “Reiner is still district attorney with a strong presence, getting almost 60% of the vote in Los Angeles County. And you have (federal) Judge Kenyon’s decision on redistricting that is very likely to kind of mix things up on the Board of Supervisors level . . . you have reapportionment with seven new congressional seats likely to come to California.”

Despite recent polls showing Reiner and Smith running neck-and-neck, many Los Angeles political experts expressed shock Wednesday that Reiner was unable to squeak by his aggressive but uncharismatic Northern opponent. For years, Reiner has been viewed as nearly invulnerable in Los Angeles--sweeping to victory as city controller, city attorney and then district attorney, winning reelection in 1988 with nearly 70% of the vote.

With one-time Los Angeles prosecutors John K. Van de Kamp and Evelle Younger as role models, Reiner was expected to win the attorney general’s office as if it were his inheritance. But three major factors got in the way: the turbulent cloud surrounding the McMartin Pre-School child molestation case, Reiner’s stubborn unwillingness to campaign statewide and Smith’s extraordinary persistence.

The major blow came in January, when a jury acquitted principal McMartin defendant Ray Buckey on most charges in the nationally publicized trial, the longest criminal trial in the nation’s history.

Until then, Smith, who announced his candidacy in early 1989, was little more than a blip in the polls. The San Francisco prosecutor soon pulled dead even.

Reiner eventually refiled eight charges against Buckey--a move that critics said was politically motivated--and subsequent events intensified the public’s focus on the controversial case.

Most recently, Reiner was embarrassed when the judge in the McMartin retrial blasted him for having ordered a staffer to contact the judge by phone. Rather than personally explain, Reiner had his chief deputy, Greg Thompson, deal with reporters.

Reiner’s appearance the next day at the Santa Monica Pier--to accept the endorsement of the Sierra Club--turned into a snapshot of his difficulties.

Because he had not already made himself available to reporters, the molestation case became the sole topic of questions. And so, despite Reiner’s strong environmental record, all news reports focused on McMartin.

Reiner’s demeanor was another problem. The snowy-haired prosecutor took a long walk down the pier with his family to meet the waiting TV cameras. But not once did he stop to shake hands or even make eye contact with any of the dozens of potential voters fishing or sunbathing.

Reiner Wednesday declined to meet the press, and when asked in a brief telephone interview whether he had any reflections on the race, he commented, “Let’s see, no, other than I lost.”

Reiner’s campaign manager, Sam Singer, who said Tuesday he would quit the effort regardless of the outcome, noted that by making only a few public appearances outside Los Angeles, Reiner was left to live or die by his television image.

“If a great deal of your persona has come from TV and that message over the years has been very positive, but suddenly the visuals and the message is very negative,” Singer said, “the populace can see you in a negative light very quickly, very quickly.”