1st District Also-Rans Find Fame in Defeat : Politics: Five losers are courted by the two finalists for their endorsements and badgered by the news media.

Never have so many candidates, with so few votes, gotten so much attention.

Joe Chavez, Louis Chitty III, Khalil Khalil, Jim Mihalka and Gonzalo Molina brought up the rear in last month’s primary election for the 1st District seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Together, they received 2,571 votes, little more than 3% of the ballots cast, and finished well behind Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina and state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), who are headed into a historic Feb. 19 runoff that will make one of them the first Latino county supervisor in this century.

But following their defeat, the five also-rans found themselves courted and cajoled. Torres and Molina met most of them, campaign operatives phoned regularly and the media probed rumored shifts in position. Everyone wanted to know: Whom would they support in the runoff election?

The Torres campaign announced its victory in the endorsement race last week, with the backing of all five also-rans. Sarah Flores and state Sen. Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier), the third- and fourth-place finishers in the primary, had previously closed ranks behind Torres.

Torres campaign officials said the five new backers might not carry large blocs of votes with them, but their unanimous support for Torres might make an impression on voters.

“They have been through the entire campaign and followed it much more closely than the average person,” said Torres spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers. “I think it’s important they are supporting Art.”

Veteran political consultant Joe Cerrell predicted that the unified front would help Torres. “In a tight race, every little bit makes a difference,” Cerrell said. “I’d sure rather have them than not have them.”

Molina, who also sought the endorsements, declined to discuss her conversations with the five.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful to these candidates,” she said. “They are entitled to make their own decisions. I didn’t make any special deals with them.”

The story of the endorsement derby is one of relative political neophytes basking, and occasionally cringing, in the glare of unaccustomed attention and feeling their political oats with demands for concessions.

Each of the five distant finishers took a different approach when the two front-runners came calling. Khalil, who received 178 votes in the January primary, may have been the most novel.

The Egyptian immigrant asked Torres and Molina to meet with Pope Shenouda III, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, of which Khalil is a member.

“I told them, ‘Forget about me,’ ” Khalil said. “ ‘You have a chance to meet with His Holiness.’ And, in effect, the church would endorse one of them.”

Khalil, 48, said Torres made a favorable impression when he attended the meeting at Virgin Mary Coptic Church in Highland Park, and even managed to speak glibly about St. Mark’s role in the formation of the Coptic Church.

Molina lost points when she attended another campaign function instead, said Khalil, a county engineer.

He said the hierarchy of the Highland Park parish would approve his endorsement of Torres.

The endorsement quest also took Torres to Chinatown. While the program of the day was a meeting with leaders in the Chinese community, Torres also huddled with Gonzalo Molina, winner of 1.8% of the vote in the January primary.

Molina, no relation to the city councilwoman, said he told Torres at the meeting that he would support whichever candidate showed the strongest backing of cultural and arts programs.

The 64-year-old adult-school teacher said he also told Torres that he might be interested in appointment to a county commission. He never explicitly asked for a commissioner’s post, Molina added, and none was offered, according to Torres.

“I know he is very concerned with cultural heritage,” Molina said in explaining his support for Torres.

Mihalka, a 32-year-old paramedic, said he would back the candidate who put him to best use.

“I said, ‘I don’t just want to be shown to the media (as a supporter), and then put back in the closet.’ I want to be part of planning a strategy or planning a press conference.”

Both Torres and Molina campaign workers said they told potential supporters they only had volunteer positions available. But Mihalka said he decided to back Torres because the state senator assured him he would have special duties--speaking at a few forums and planning other appearances.

“Gloria wanted me to do mailers and stuff envelopes and that was it,” Mihalka said.

Chitty, a 44-year-old teacher, said he found the two candidates similar on issues but decided to back Torres, in part because he seemed more enthusiastic about receiving the endorsement. When he met Molina, Chitty said, “it was like a blase encounter. There was no real warmth.”

The last of the five--Joe Chavez, who finished last in January with 158 votes--said he didn’t ask for anything. The 54-year-old county computer analyst said he followed the endorsement of his union--Service Employees International, Local 660--in backing Torres.

He denied reports that the union members had pressured him to back Torres.

Chavez also said he would be happy when all the phone calls and the badgering by reporters was over.

All five candidates said they found the sudden glare of attention daunting.

“If the news media had paid as much attention to us before the (primary),” Mihalka said, “maybe we would have done better.”