Hahn Has Most Election Foes (15), Molina Has Least (0)

Los Angeles County Assessor Kenneth P. Hahn will face a crowded field of 15 challengers in the June 7 primary, while Supervisor Gloria Molina will run unopposed for reelection.

Sheriff Sherman Block will face seven challengers in his bid for reelection, and four candidates will vie to succeed retiring five-term Supervisor Ed Edelman.

The filing deadline for most countywide seats was last Friday. The deadline was extended to Wednesday for Edelman’s seat.

The assessor’s race shapes up as perhaps the most spirited battle. Hahn will be challenged by the man he replaced four years ago, John J. Lynch, now a tax assessment adviser.

Most of the other contenders are also current or former employees in the assessor’s office.

Those running are Alan Bato, a deputy county assessor from Walnut; Robert Burman, a manager in the assessor’s office from Sunland; Roy Z. Cossio, a deputy assessor from Maywood; Ruben Vasquez Chagoy, a deputy assessor from Los Angeles; Richard B. Forsch, a Beverly Hills attorney; Khalil Khalil, an engineer and consultant from Los Angeles, and John Carl Brogdon, a taxpayer’s appeals representative from Long Beach who also ran for the job four years ago.

Other candidates: Dennis C. Kumaus, a deputy assessor from Palmdale; Roy R. Sharman, a chief appraiser from Valencia; Marsha G. Tuton, a deputy assessor from Whittier; William R. Lenney Jr., a deputy assessor/contractor from Pomona; Harley Lee Outten, an assessor’s representative from Valencia; Nick Stansfield, a deputy assessor from Long Beach, and Lancaster businesswoman Janet Woods.

The field for sheriff is only slightly less packed and also includes a number of challengers from within the department, including Deputy Sheriff Gil Carrillo of Los Angeles, Deputy Sheriff Tab Rhodes of Whittier and Sheriff’s Sgt. John Stites of the City of Industry.

Other contenders are Robert Irmas, a businessman and reserve captain from Los Angeles; John Bernard Kihm III, a state contractor and investigator from Los Angeles; Robert H. Lewis Jr., a Metro Transit police officer from West Covina, and Joseph G. Senteno, a custodian supervisor from Lennox.

The candidates for Edelman’s 3rd District supervisorial seat are Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky; Don Wallace of Calabasas, a former fire captain and ex-deputy to Edelman; Michael S. Hirsch, an environmental consultant from Van Nuys, and Elgin Trammell Sr., an attorney from Lake View Terrace.

Pat Bond, a campaign consultant Supervisor Molina, expressed surprise at the lack of opposition in that race.

“We haven’t got the vaguest idea why nobody ran against her, but it’s kind of nice to have that happen,” Bond said.