In Key Endorsement, Molina Pledges to Support Garamendi

State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi’s underdog campaign for governor won a big boost Thursday when he captured the endorsement of Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, the state’s most prominent Latino politician.

With a beaming Garamendi at her side, Molina wrapped her populist mantle around him and asserted that the Democrat shared her concerns about the economy, health care, the financing of county government programs and government accountability.

“He has never been considered a political insider or a good old boy of back-room politics; instead he has steered clear of politics as usual,” Molina said at the announcement, which was held at the county Hall of Administration.

The endorsement by Molina--the most important one among Latino politicians and, perhaps, from any elected official in Southern California--represented something of a perceptual oddity: a Latino woman known for fighting and scraping her way against the status quo dispenses her political largess on a white man who has spent 20 years as a stalwart of the political system.

But in this year’s Democratic primary, it is Garamendi who is the long shot, lagging behind state Treasurer Kathleen Brown in the polls and in fund raising. And Molina was clearly sympathetic, alluding repeatedly to the tough road ahead for Garamendi.

“I’m so accustomed to campaigns of this type when you run against the power, the money, all of it,” she said.

“With enough hard work, this campaign can in fact be a winner in June.”

Garamendi, who on Thursday spent nearly as much time extolling Molina’s virtues as she did his, was clearly elated about the supervisor’s decision.

“To say that I’m thrilled, delighted, excited, ecstatic, really underplays the emotions that I have today as I accept this endorsement, as I embrace it,” he said.

In response to Molina’s endorsement, Brown campaign spokesman Michael Reese issued a statement pointedly noting that several Latino officials are supporting Brown--the best known of them Assemblyman Richard Polanco of Los Angeles.

“After her victory in the June primary, Kathleen Brown looks forward to working closely with Gloria Molina to beat Pete Wilson in November,” Reese said.

For his part, Garamendi was hopeful that Molina’s move would help maintain the momentum he has developed in recent days. Most promisingly for Garamendi, his mini-surge has occurred at the same time that Brown’s campaign hit a rough patch.

Little more than a week ago, Brown hired a new campaign manager, Clint Reilly, and then saw her old campaign manager, her issues director and her media adviser depart. The only Brown hand with more than a few months familiarity with her--press secretary Reese--was simultaneously sidelined by his brother’s death.

Last weekend, Garamendi succeeded in his struggle to deny Brown her expected endorsement by the California Teachers Assn. Although Brown won the support of more CTA delegates than Garamendi, she did not receive the 60% necessary for the organization’s formal endorsement.

Brown has also battled public concerns about the direction of her campaign, and to some extent Molina’s endorsement reflected the disdain some Latino leaders feel for the treasurer’s efforts.

Molina went out of her way to avoid directly criticizing Brown, who as of late yesterday pleaded with the supervisor to reconsider her endorsement. But in praising Garamendi’s position on illegal immigration, Molina referred indirectly to concerns within the Latino community about Brown’s more conservative stands on the issue.

“I am pleased with the positions that John has taken, the kind of leadership role that he’s demonstrated to bring sensible and reasonable solutions to the issue of immigration,” she said, adding that he was “not just running off making statements from time to time as some of the others have.”

Molina’s endorsement is coveted in political circles because of her links to a variety of voter bases. In addition to her strong support in the Latino community, the supervisor is popular among women and has carved out an image as the area’s premier populist politician.

Richard Martinez, executive director of the nonpartisan Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, called Molina’s move “a shot across Kathleen Brown’s bow.”

Garamendi, he said, “has to run in this instance like a minority candidate--why not replicate what wins with minority candidates?”

In another effort to gain ground on Brown, Garamendi renewed his assault Thursday on the airwaves. One television advertisement that has already run for weeks--a biographical introduction to Garamendi--is back on the air.

A new advertisement that seeks to further define him also began its run Thursday--and ironically, it uses as a central device the now-ubiquitous 800-number made famous by Brown’s brother, Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., in his 1992 campaign for President.

In the ad, Garamendi refers to his “work days,” in which he takes on the job of a typical Californian for part of a day. He touts his 800-number, on which callers can find a message from Garamendi on the issue of the moment--this week, it’s crime.

In closing, he characterizes himself as “for workfare, not welfare” and supportive of a “crackdown” on illegal immigration. He also calls himself “the only Democrat who will stand up for the death penalty”--a swipe at Brown. The treasurer has said that although she personally opposes the death penalty, she would carry it out as governor.

Garamendi’s campaign manager, Darry Sragow, said the ad’s line about illegal immigration does not violate the candidate’s pledge not to politicize the racially sensitive issue.

“It is shorthand for being tough on the problem,” he said. “But that’s different from being inhuman to the people.”