Rivera Leads School Board Race : Education: Administrator-backed candidate is slightly ahead of teacher David Tokofsky in heavily Latino district.

Parent Lucia V. Rivera pulled slightly ahead in early returns Tuesday in the race for a seat on the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education, but high school teacher David Tokofsky was close behind in the runoff in a district designed to give Latinos the advantage.

A win by Rivera would give the school board a majority of administrator-backed members for the first time in recent years.

“I’m not taking anything for granted,” Rivera said late Tuesday from her Lincoln Heights campaign headquarters. “I’m just so excited.”

She attributed early positive results to support for her campaign not only from parents, but from entire school communities, from maintenance workers to principals.

Although it was portrayed throughout the two-month runoff campaign as a teacher vs. parent contest, the race was also a competition between two powerful electoral forces: the teachers union and the Latino political machine.

A victory for Rivera, who was endorsed by most of the region’s top Latino politicians--would be seen as a stark symbol of the waning influence of United Teachers-Los Angeles, which has funneled money and manpower to her opponent.

If Tokofsky wins, it would make him the first white representative of the 5th District in 12 years, and be a blow to Latino politicians who have tried to preserve the seat for a Latino. As early vote tallies filtered into his campaign headquarters Tuesday evening, Tokofsky expressed optimism that supporters of both candidates would unite after the election, regardless of who wins.

“We ran a good campaign,” he said. “I think we got across the message that excellence and equity are compatible, that we don’t have to divide into the Valley and East L.A., that there is a middle . . . and a middle ground.”

The 5th District boundaries were redrawn in 1992 to include many of Los Angeles’ most highly Latino areas, and 87% of the students who attend public schools in the district are Latino. However, fewer than half of its voters identify themselves as Latino, creating an uphill battle for a Latino candidate.

Issues of ethnicity and experience split backers--and voters--throughout the campaign, especially after the two Latino front-runners dropped out and left the race wide open for nine relatively unknown contenders.

Many Latino elected and community officials ended up choosing Rivera, a paid parent liaison and volunteer at Eagle Rock High School, over the politically savvy Tokofsky, a social studies teacher at Marshall High School who speaks fluent Spanish.

But some key Latinos stayed out of the race and 5th District board member Leticia Quezada, who is stepping down after eight years, did not back either candidate.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), whose congressional district is virtually contiguous with the school board seat, endorsed Rivera and provided her with financial and moral support. But he said he saw strengths and weaknesses in both--and a hard road ahead.

“I don’t think either one of them understands what they’re going to confront. . . . It’s not going to be any fun,” Becerra said, referring to education funding cuts and such tough issues as Proposition 187, which would have schools weed out illegal immigrant children.

Even the teachers union initially considered a dual endorsement, despite years of active involvement by Tokofsky. To win individual teachers’ support, Tokofsky had the daunting task of overcoming their feelings of betrayal, rooted in past votes to cut their pay by board member Jeff Horton, a former teacher who was elected with extensive union support.

But a sluggish start on union participation in Tokofsky’s campaign later blossomed into more than $80,000 in contributions, as well as dozens of volunteers to walk precincts and staff phone banks.

Rivera began the runoff campaign with momentum from the primary, where she finished with 44% of the vote, far ahead of Tokofsky, who garnered only 27%. But both candidates knew that the wide gap was unlikely to persist, particularly after Tokofsky was endorsed by five of the seven other candidates.

Rivera won the backing of unions representing classified personnel and school police, and she was heavily supported by the union representing school administrators, longtime foes of the teachers union. She also won the endorsement of the board’s other Latina, Vicky Castro, a former principal who provided high-level introductions and financial backing.

Combined, the two candidates spent far more than $300,000 on the election, much of it on mailings--and in Rivera’s case, on lawn signs aimed at capitalizing on her Latino heritage throughout the sprawling district.

In the other local education contest, university professor Gloria Romero had taken a strong lead over businessman David Kessler for the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees seat left vacant when former trustee Wally Knox was elected to the state Assembly.