ELECTIONS / L.A. CITY COUNCIL : Hall’s Bid for Key Labor Group Endorsement Fails : Politics: The county’s AFL-CIO unit votes not to back any of 12 candidates seeking to replace Ernani Bernardi.

In an unexpected defeat, Los Angeles City Council candidate Lyle Hall failed to win endorsement Tuesday from a key organized labor group following intensive behind-the-scenes lobbying by three rival candidates.

The political arm of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor voted not to endorse any of the dozen candidates vying to replace Councilman Ernani Bernardi in the 7th District, which covers the northeast San Fernando Valley. Bernardi is foregoing a reelection bid so he can run for mayor of Los Angeles.

The vote was a sharp setback for Hall, a former president of the Los Angeles city firefighters union, who won the 700,000-member AFL-CIO federation’s blessing in his unsuccessful run against Bernardi in 1989. Because of his strong showing against Bernardi in that race, Hall has been widely regarded as the front-runner in this year’s race.

“I think it really takes the heart out of Lyle Hall’s campaign . . . . It was almost assumed that he would be the strong labor candidate,” exulted rival contender Richard Alarcon, Mayor Tom Bradley’s Valley liaison officer and one of those who lobbied against Hall.

Hall said he will continue to seek the support of individual unions, which are now free to back whichever candidate they please under the “open endorsement” voted by the labor federation’s Committee on Political Education, or COPE.

“Naturally, I would have preferred to have had the endorsement,” he said. “I think this just indicates that the COPE executive board feels that there are a number of good candidates.”

In an area like the 7th District, which contains many union members and blue-collar workers, the COPE endorsement is a major political prize. In the past, it has translated into strong nuts-and-bolts campaign backing, including union money and workers to operate telephones and walk precincts for a favored candidate.

Alarcon and two other candidates--Rose Castaneda and Raymond Magana--mounted an intensive lobbying campaign to win the COPE endorsement themselves or at least deny it to Hall, telephoning labor leaders and enlisting powerful elected officials in their cause.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), a longtime labor ally, made calls on behalf of Castaneda, his top local aide. Following a request from Magana, a former Bernardi aide, City Councilman Mike Hernandez urged labor leaders not to anoint any one candidate.

Hernandez said he worked against Hall because the 7th District is heavily Latino and he wanted to help “level the playing field” for the other candidates, including six who are Latino.

“A lot of people think of it as a Latino seat,” he said. “I know we have several qualified candidates, and I didn’t want them to be shut off because the federation went with one of their own.”

Hall fell short of winning the COPE endorsement even though he had extensively lobbied labor leaders and was backed last week by the Valley Labor Political Education Committee, a COPE subgroup that represents union members in the Valley.

“Lyle has been working the phones really hard,” said his campaign manager, Robert Stiens.

Some of Hall’s allies in organized labor lamented the COPE vote.

“Obviously, if he doesn’t have the endorsement, it’s going to be a tougher row to hoe than if he had the endorsement,” said Ken Buzzell, president of the Los Angeles city firefighters union. The union, which Hall headed for eight years, has endorsed him.

Magana, a Sylmar attorney who has handled many labor cases, said he called numerous labor leaders and elected city officials in his effort to deny Hall the endorsement.

“There were at least 10 people within labor that I called. I also had them, the labor people, call other labor people. I also had elected officials call Bill Robertson,” head of the labor federation, Magana said.

Magana said he intends to intensify his efforts to win union support, and noted that he already has been endorsed by local unions representing construction and auto workers.

The COPE vote, Magana said, reflects labor’s recognition that the 7th District is overwhelmingly Latino and that key neighborhoods that voted for Hall in 1989 have been reapportioned into a different district.

“The district has changed . . . . Lyle Hall, without solid labor support, I don’t think he’s going to be the front-runner any more,” Magana said.

In the 3rd Council District, encompassing the southwest Valley, incumbent Councilwoman Joy Picus was endorsed by COPE.