Caucus of Latino Legislators Backs Brown : Campaign: Seven members praise the Democratic front-runner in race for governor. But support is not unanimous.

The springtime scuffle for endorsements continued Thursday as the California Latino Legislative Caucus, a statewide coalition of Latino elected officials, announced that it has endorsed state Treasurer Kathleen Brown’s candidacy for governor.

At a news conference at the Carpenters Union Hall in El Monte, seven Latino legislators flanked the 48-year-old front-runner, praising her as a responsive leader and pledging themselves as warriors in her battle to win the Democratic nomination and unseat Gov. Pete Wilson.

“California does not need and can no longer afford a governor who scapegoats communities. It is time to retire Pete,” said Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), the caucus chairman. Brown’s bid for governor, he added, “is a candidacy that all Latinos can be proud of.”

Even before the news conference ended, however, it became clear that not all the Latino caucus members shared Polanco’s view. Contrary to a Brown campaign press release that implied that all 11 caucus members were on her side, Polanco acknowledged that state Sens. Ruben S. Ayala (D-Chino) and Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) had not voted to endorse Brown.

Torres, who is running for insurance commissioner, has remained neutral in the governor’s race. Ayala has endorsed Brown’s opponent for the Democratic nomination, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi.

Neither Torres nor Ayala were present at Thursday’s announcement. Their absence was yet another signal that when it comes to the gubernatorial contest, the Latino community is less unified than Brown’s campaign would like. Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina has endorsed Garamendi, and other Latinos have been privately critical of Brown for what they see as her overly conservative approach to illegal immigration.

The legislators who spoke up Thursday for Brown said Latinos--like any other group--cannot be expected to think alike. They said their endorsement is meaningful because they, more than some other local politicians, have been able to watch Brown in action.

“We are the Democratic Latinos that work in Sacramento,” Assemblywoman Diane Martinez (D-Rosemead) said. “We are the ones that are on front lines (and) . . . we have a close working relationship with Kathleen Brown. It’s no coincidence that we’re all here supporting her today.”

Other members of the Assembly who pledged to work for Brown included Joe Baca (D-San Bernardino), Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno), Martha M. Escutia (D-Huntington Park) and Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk). State Sen. Charles Calderon (D-Whittier) said he thinks Democrats must begin looking beyond the June 7 primary, which he described as “not even a race.”

“We need to start focusing on where the real fight is,” he said. “The real fight is Pete Wilson.”

A Los Angeles Times poll conducted earlier this week found that Brown continues to run well ahead of Garamendi in the Democratic primary, defeating him 39% to 25% if the election were held today. Brown would defeat Wilson 51% to 41%, the survey found, while Garamendi would beat Wilson by a spare 47% to 42%.

Darry Sragow, Garamendi’s campaign manager, described the Latino caucus endorsement Thursday as “the Brown camp trying to play tit for tat” in the wake of Molina’s announcement earlier this month.

“This is not a contest to see who can have the most names on a list, in this case the most Latino-sounding names,” he said. Moments later he added: “We’ll be having more Latino endorsements, by the way. But we’re not into building up a Rolodex. We’re into opening up the doors of government to those who historically have not had a voice.”

Dan Schnur, a spokesman for Wilson’s campaign, also characterized Brown’s announcement Thursday as a reaction to Molina. He noted that many of the Latino caucus members had already endorsed Brown individually.

“It’s kind of sad really when the best damage control you can offer is to re-announce the endorsement of politicians who’ve already endorsed you publicly,” Schnur said. “I have a lot of respect for Richard Polanco, but I have to imagine that after seven or eight times, the news value of his endorsement is going to start to wear thin.”