Decision Scrambles Politics in County : Government: Observers predict a lively race for Edelman’s seat. Woo, Roberti, Yaroslavsky and Katz are being mentioned as likely contenders.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman’s surprise decision not to seek reelection next year has upended the region’s political universe, opening up opportunities for a host of ambitious San Fernando Valley and Westside elected officials.

Among those already being touted as possible candidates for the job that Edelman has held for 19 years are state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, former council member and mayoral candidate Michael Woo and state Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar).

Wednesday’s announcement was “quite a political bombshell,” said political consultant Richard Lichtenstein, who joined other pundits in predicting that the race for Edelman’s seat will be lively.

The likeliest heavyweights in the emerging race are Roberti, the state Senate president pro tempore who lives in the Valley, and Yaroslavsky, the powerful Westside-based councilman whose political career has been in neutral for several years.

Katz, 41, who ran for mayor of Los Angeles earlier this year and just recently announced that he was running for reelection to the state Assembly, has also been mentioned for the job. So has Woo, now a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Woo has also been discussed as a possible candidate for California secretary of state.

Adding an element of uncertainty to the political equation is that Edelman’s 3rd District was sharply redrawn during the 1990 reapportionment process and more of its residents live in the Valley than on the Westside. Previously, the district had included the Westside, Hollywood and the Eastside.

According to the latest demographic studies, the district is 59% white and 29% Latino. “It’s upscale, affluent, Jewish and largely Democratic,” Lichtenstein said.

And although the biggest names looking at the seat are Democrats, the weight of the Valley side of the district, which helped elect conservative Mayor Richard Riordan last spring, may create a new dynamic.

“I don’t know of any Republicans who might be looking at Edelman’s seat,” said Paul Clarke, a corporate political consultant.

“But then it wasn’t an open seat until this afternoon. This may change the equation entirely.”

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Because the 3rd Supervisorial District is now firmly identified with the Valley, “you also may see people who might be interested in the seat who wouldn’t have been before,” Clarke added.

But for the time being, Roberti, the 54-year-old leader of the state Senate, looks the most promising, analysts said.

“I see a Roberti scaring a Katz or a Zev from running but not vice versa,” said one political observer who asked that he not be identified.

In late September, Roberti announced his intention to run for the job of state treasurer and reportedly has raised substantial campaign funds.

But on Wednesday, Roberti, who like other potential successors got a personal call from Edelman before the announcement, said through aide J.J. Kaplan that he is now “exploring all his options, including that of running for supervisor.”

“It’s a combination of Roberti’s old and new districts, a very good match,” Clarke said. “And raising funds to run for treasurer is probably a thankless task, especially since the various bond firms in New York are saying they aren’t going to give to these kinds of campaigns anymore.”

From another standpoint, being a supervisor also would involve the kinds of public policy issues with which Roberti is familiar after years in the state Senate. “It’s different than being state treasurer,” one observer said. “It’s not so administrative as treasurer.”

Yaroslavsky, 44, who is on a city trip to South Korea, heard the news and immediately fired off a press release stating that he is “actively considering running for supervisor, and I will make a decision within the next week.”

And despite the disadvantage of being caught out of the country, Yaroslavsky quickly began phoning Valley and Westside political leaders from Seoul to tell them of his newfound interest and to seek their advice and support.

The seat looks like a dream come true for Yaroslavsky, according to some associates. “There is no reason for Zev not to run for this seat,” said consultant Rick Taylor, a former aide to Yaroslavsky. “He has a huge chunk of Ed’s district in his own council district, he’s a great fund-raiser and campaigner, and he has a free ride--this is a seat he can run for and not have to worry about giving up his council seat.”

Yaroslavsky dropped his bid for mayor in 1989 when he could not run for that office and keep his council seat at the same time.

Katz, too, said he was also “taking a very strong look” at the Edelman post. “I think it would make a great fit,” Katz said.

In fact, the state assemblyman was already mapping out what sounded like a platform. “County government needs to be overhauled,” he said.

The quandary for Katz is that he could not run for the Edelman seat and keep his job in the Assembly; both seats are open next year.

Woo, 42, who got into the runoff in last spring’s mayoral race but lost by a fairly narrow margin to Riordan, could not be reached for comment.

“I think Mike could be a front-runner,” consultant Steve Afriat said. “After all, he bought $3 million worth of name identification in the mayor’s race.”

Among the other potential candidates in the political gossip mill Wednesday: U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), state Assemblymen Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles) and Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood), Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, former U.S. Rep. Fiedler and Valley Republican activist Carol Rowen.