Woo’s Mayoral Bid Forces Move by Likely Rivals : Politics: Others who have been waiting to see if Bradley will seek reelection must start fund raising soon or be left in the dust, analysts say.

With Councilman Mike Woo becoming the first to formally declare his candidacy for Los Angeles mayor, more than a dozen other potential candidates are expected to quickly join him in what is almost sure to be the liveliest mayoral race in years, political experts said Monday.

A number of prominent political figures have indicated a strong desire to enter the race, but several have been holding back waiting for September when Mayor Tom Bradley says he will announce whether he will seek an unprecedented sixth term. With Woo now free to hustle campaign contributions and endorsements, political experts say these potential challengers cannot afford to wait.

“Anyone who is seriously looking at running is going to need to make up his mind in the next month or so,” said political consultant Steve Afriat, who has worked for several council members considering the race. “Anyone who waits any longer is going to be left in the dust. . . . There is too much money that needs to be raised in too short a period.”

Whether or not Bradley runs, potential donors face a quandary in that most of the candidates are incumbent officeholders, some of whom will not have to give up their offices even if they lose the race or decide to withdraw. Woo on Sunday announced that he will run for mayor next April--whether or not Bradley seeks reelection to the office he has held for nearly 20 years.

By Monday afternoon, Woo had opened a campaign office in Chinatown, hired a political consultant and spent several hours dialing for campaign dollars.

Although the election is eight months away, mayoral candidates face the prospect of having to raise huge sums of money, possibly as much as $5 million.

And they do not want to be left behind in the dash for political cash.

“Because of the high cost of this campaign, it’s going to be very difficult for any potential candidate to sit around too much longer” while others begin fund raising, said Larry Berg, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

City Hall lobbyist Eric Rose agreed. “There is going to be a horse race for the almighty political dollar, which is limited because of tight economic times,” he said.

“Unlike past years,” Rose added, “all of the people expected to enter the mayor’s race are real contenders.”

Councilman Nate Holden and Assemblyman Richard Katz have begun raising funds to run for mayor. Councilman Joel Wachs said Monday that he will announce within a week or so whether or not he will join the field.

“It’s time to either do something or not,” Wachs said.

Other possible candidates include council members Richard Alatorre, Joy Picus and Zev Yaroslavsky. Also considering running for mayor are Richard Riordan, a wealthy downtown attorney who is sponsoring an initiative to limit the terms of elected city officials, and Nikolas Patsaouras, a county transportation commissioner.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina says she has not ruled out running for the city’s top political job.

The range of possible candidates is making choices tough for many potential contributors, who would prefer that the candidates declare their intentions.

“I’ll support Gloria if she decides to run for mayor, but if she doesn’t, I won’t go against a strong Latino candidate such as Alatorre or (state Sen. Art) Torres,” said Joe Sanchez, a Los Angeles businessman who says he has been bombarded in recent weeks with requests from potential mayoral candidates for financial help.

“Three have asked me for endorsements or financial help,” Sanchez said. “Two others have said: ‘Joe, please don’t make up your mind on a candidate yet. Give me a little more time to decide.’ ”

Stanley Hirsch, a garment district property owner and major contributor to Bradley’s previous campaigns, said he has been approached by five candidates in recent weeks.

“I am going to support the person with a program and attitude to turn this city around because Los Angeles is falling apart and somebody has to put it together,” Hirsch said.

Although he waited until this week to announce his plans, Woo has been lining up support for more than a year. Last year, he traveled around the country introducing himself to potential Asian-American fund-raisers. He also appeared at churches in South-Central Los Angeles calling for Police Chief Daryl F. Gates’ resignation--a move that experts say could generate support for him in the black community.

While others were still mulling over the question of whether they would run, Woo on Monday said he hired the high-powered Washington political consulting firm of Squier, Eskew, Knapp & Ochs, which ran Ann Richard’s successful campaign for the Texas governorship and has managed a number of winning campaigns for the U.S. Senate.

“The Squier firm is one of the top political consulting firms in the country,” Woo said. “I felt it was important to choose a highly competent firm with the resources to run the kind of creative campaign we’ll need.”

Bradley on Monday insisted that Woo’s decision will have no bearing on his reelection plans.

But it did draw interest from other potential candidates. They dispatched aides to monitor Woo’s announcement, which was delivered before a multiethnic group of students at John Marshall High School.

“L.A. has changed dramatically in the course of their lives--but our leadership hasn’t,” Woo said, referring to students who were not born when Bradley was first elected in 1973.

While Woo has generally refrained from criticism of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani suggested that the councilman should not discount Bradley’s political muscle should he run.

“Mike Woo is obviously trying to compete for Mayor Bradley’s political base,” Fabiani said. “But the mayor’s entry into the race would deal a severe blow to Woo’s efforts in sheer numbers of votes as well as in financial contributions.”