LOCAL ELECTIONS / 13TH L.A. COUNCIL DISTRICT : Gay Community Leader Backs LaBonge

Los Angeles City Council candidate Tom LaBonge on Wednesday picked up a key endorsement from the gay community in his contest with Jackie Goldberg for the 13th District seat being vacated by mayoral hopeful Michael Woo.

Michael Weinstein, 40, who finished fourth in the April primary against LaBonge, Goldberg and five other candidates--and who had said he planned to remain neutral in the June 8 runoff--threw his support to LaBonge.

LaBonge campaign staffers, gleeful at their latest good fortune, scheduled a news conference for today in Atwater Village, where Weinstein is to make his formal announcement.

“I’ve engaged in a dialogue with both candidates since April and in doing so found more common ground with Tom than with Jackie,” Weinstein said.

The news was an unexpected blow to Goldberg, 48, a former member of the Los Angeles school board who is trying to become the first openly gay or lesbian member of the City Council.

It gives LaBonge, 39, a longtime aide to City Councilman John Ferraro, endorsements from the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers in last month’s primary. Perhaps more significant, the endorsement could help chip away at Goldberg’s support in the gay and lesbian community, whose backing will be crucial in a close election.

The district stretches from the heart of Hollywood--including much of Hollywood and Sunset boulevards--to parts of Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village, Glassell Park and Mt. Washington.

Goldberg got 35% of the vote and LaBonge 31% in the primary. But only 19,000 of the district’s 232,000 residents cast ballots.

Observers say that if turnout is low for the runoff, the election could hinge on the roughly 9,000 voters whose first choice in the primary was someone other than Goldberg and LaBonge.

“It’s great news,” said LaBonge of Weinstein’s support. “Whenever you get someone as hard-working as Michael endorsing you, you’ve got to be happy.”

Goldberg, who has the backing of Supervisor Gloria M. Molina and an array of prominent Democrats, said she was “surprised but not shocked” by Weinstein’s decision. She said she does not believe it will make a difference in the race.

Although Goldberg and LaBonge are Democrats, the campaign in some ways mirrors the mayoral contest between the liberal Woo, who has represented the district for eight years, and Republican Richard Riordan.

An unabashed liberal, Goldberg expects to do well in liberal, ethnically diverse Hollywood, and among some of the district’s more significant voting blocs: gays and lesbians, union workers, teachers and low-income groups.

The more conservative LaBonge has focused much of his effort on areas of the district outside Hollywood, where there are more Anglo homeowners who are also considered more likely to back Riordan.

Weinstein’s action was not entirely unexpected. He was openly critical of Goldberg during the primary campaign and competed strenuously for the endorsement of the predominantly gay Stonewall Democratic Club.

The group ended up endorsing Goldberg, Weinstein and Conrado Terrazas, a third gay candidate, in the primary. Stonewall is backing Goldberg in the runoff.

On Wednesday, Weinstein praised LaBonge as someone who knows how to “get things done,” and said that the council race is not about ideology.

Another also-ran in the April primary, third-place finisher Tom Riley, has assumed a key role with the LaBonge campaign. Riley was a top aide to Democrat Barbara Boxer in her successful campaign for the U.S. Senate last year. Boxer has endorsed Goldberg.

LaBonge also has the support of fifth-place finisher Barbara Johannessen. Terrazas, who finished sixth, has endorsed Goldberg.