CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS : Garamendi Is Endorsed by Maxine Waters

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Garamendi won the endorsement Saturday of Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, one of the state’s most influential black political leaders, who praised Garamendi for having “a real vision” for rebuilding the city.

“He has not, and will not, take us for granted,” said Waters, who represents some of the areas hit most severely by the 1992 riots. “I believe John Garamendi will be a true friend of our community and I wholeheartedly endorse him for governor.”

Waters appeared with Garamendi, the state insurance commissioner, at the 98th Street Community Assn. neighborhood street festival.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought and my endorsement of John Garamendi may surprise a few people,” said Waters, whose 35th Congressional District includes portions of south Los Angeles, Inglewood, Hawthorne and Gardena.

Darry Sragow, Garamendi’s campaign manager, said it was an important endorsement at a critical point in the campaign: Garamendi is trailing state Treasurer Kathleen Brown in the polls with little more than two weeks remaining before the June 7 primary election.

Waters joins state Sen. Diane Watson of Los Angeles and County Supervisor Gloria Molina in supporting Garamendi over his rivals, Brown and Sen. Tom Hayden of Santa Monica.

Waters, a former assemblywoman who served with Garamendi while he was a state senator, called Garamendi a “principled, issue-oriented man.”

“He supports the social and business issues that are important to me and my constituents. John Garamendi came to our community leadership to ask us what we thought needed to be done. He sought out our opinions,” she said.

Garamendi, saying he was honored to have Waters’ endorsement, said that as governor he would continue his work to end insurance redlining and other forms of discrimination against minority communities.

Brown has her share of endorsements from black and Latino leaders, including a number of legislators. But in Waters, Watson and Molina, Garamendi has the backing of three key leaders with the ability to motivate their own constituents to vote for him.