Presidential Race May Test Mayor’s Neutral Stance

As the GOP prepares to make Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole its standard-bearer against President Clinton this fall, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan is finding himself the man in the middle.

A Republican occupying the top job in a heavily Democratic city, Riordan has used to good advantage the technically nonpartisan feature of the mayor’s office and his highest-level connections on both sides of the political aisle.

His lifelong GOP membership has helped open key politicians’ doors in Washington and Sacramento. His strong links to the Clinton administration have helped land the city important federal aid in everything from earthquake rebuilding funds to money for more police officers.

But the race for the presidency lends a downside to Riordan’s talent for cross-party bonding as both sides angle for help--or at least a promise of no harm--from the mayor of the nation’s second-largest city.

What’s Dick Riordan going to do? That question is increasingly being asked in political circles around California and Washington, and the answer could have important consequences for both Riordan and the city.

The pressures on Riordan from both sides are going to go “from enormous to awesome” as the campaign season goes on, said Los Angeles-based political consultant Richard Lichtenstein.

“The mayor has worked very hard to develop relationships among both the Republican and Democratic leadership, and that has resulted in major investments for the city. I think the mayor is going to be in quite a pickle if he alienates either group,” Lichtenstein added.

Riordan knows it, despite the lack of strong, direct overtures to date. He says he has not decided even whether to attend the Republican convention in San Diego this summer, let alone made a commitment on whether to endorse at all.

“My office is nonpartisan. I’m elected on ideas and principles, not on my party affiliation,” said Riordan, sounding like a man who is making a case for remaining neutral.

A Republican all his adult life, Riordan, 65, said his longtime political activism has not followed partisan lines. He has not attended his party’s state or national political conventions. His activities have centered on various causes, ranging from the 1986 ouster of California Supreme Court Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird to term limits for state elected officeholders to limits on how much school districts can spend on administrative costs.

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He has contributed to candidates in both parties--he even supported then-Mayor Tom Bradley, a liberal Democrat, against conservative Republican George Deukmejian in the 1982 governor’s race. And in the 1994 state elections, he split his vote on the two biggest contests. He backed Republican Gov. Pete Wilson over state Treasurer Kathleen Brown for governor, even though his closest friend and political advisor, Bill Wardlaw, played a key role in Brown’s campaign. But he endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in her close race with Republican Michael Huffington.

Riordan did call heavily on his Republican credentials in the city’s crowded 1993 primary to help win him a spot on the runoff ballot and eventually the mayor’s office. Later, some Republicans, angry over some of his endorsements and his inclusion of many Democrats on his staff and commissions, started showing up at party functions with buttons accusing the mayor of being a RINO--Republican in Name Only.

“I have not made a decision, and I probably won’t make a decision [about whether and whom to endorse] until much closer to the election,” Riordan said. “People haven’t asked me yet to endorse, probably because they know I am not a partisan person.” Still, he acknowledged, the reticence will not last much longer.

And when the pressure does come, he said, “I will look at all the issues and then decide based on what’s best for the city.”

Riordan has far more freedom to ignore the wishes of his party than do most officeholders, a broad spectrum of political consultants and analysts agree. He is a wealthy attorney-entrepreneur and philanthropist who made his mark on the city long before making his first bid for public office. And he has said several times so far that he has no interest in running for another political post.

“He’s free to do what he thinks is best for the city. He certainly isn’t obligated to do anything for the party . . . my guess is that he will remain neutral,” said veteran Republican political consultant Ron Smith.

But another longtime GOP consultant, Allan Hoffenblum, while agreeing that Riordan enjoys an extraordinary degree of independence and expects little pressure on the mayor, said Riordan owes the party at least a mild endorsement of Dole.

“I don’t think the Democrats would be offended if he endorsed his party’s candidate, as long as he wasn’t out there on the runway every time Dole’s plane landed,” Hoffenblum said.

Political experts said Riordan’s neutral stance would indeed be a victory for the Clinton campaign. And Dole, assuming he hangs onto the Senate leadership post if he loses the presidential race, could make things tough for the city.

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Congressional Republicans control the purse strings and much of Clinton’s largess--including his latest, a promise of a $400-million loan to build the economy-boosting Alameda Corridor freight rail line--depends on congressional approval.

William Schneider of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, said both parties will want the support of a popular mayor of the biggest city in a key state, and staying neutral would not let Riordan off the hook. “Even remaining neutral would be a big victory for Democrats--it would be seen as a big poke at Dole,” Schneider said.