City Attorney Far Ahead of Challenger

Three-term incumbent Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn maintains a very strong lead over challenger Ted Stein, according to The Times Poll.

But the survey showed that the better-financed Stein is gaining some ground as the April 8 contest nears.

In polling conducted from March 22 through March 27, The Times found that 53% of likely voters favored Hahn, while 26% said they would vote for Stein. The rest were undecided.

Hahn’s standing among likely voters was virtually unchanged from a January Times poll. Stein’s numbers had doubled, however. In the earlier poll, only 13% of likely voters said they would vote for the former Airport Commission president who is being backed by Mayor Richard Riordan.

Stein’s gain appeared to come from undecided voters switching to his column.

But to win, the latest poll indicates, Stein will need to capture all of the remaining undecideds--and take some votes away from Hahn.

“It’s a lot to overcome in a short time,” said Times Poll director Susan Pinkus.

Although Stein has been campaigning for city attorney for more than a year, the Encino lawyer and real estate developer remains a virtual unknown to a large majority of the city’s voters.

As of late last week, the poll found, three-quarters of registered voters said they did not know who he was.

The survey interviewed 811 registered voters and 243 people who were deemed likely to vote in a contest that is expected to feature a low turnout.

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points for registered voters and plus or minus six percentage points for likely voters.

Stein, who recently loaned and donated a total of $200,000 to his own campaign, has pinned his hopes on an advertising blitz. He launched a direct mail effort in early March and began airing television commercials just two days before the latest Times survey got underway.

Hahn quickly countered with television ads of his own, which were on the air throughout the survey period.

Both candidates plan to intensify their commercial broadcasts this week when they will, combined, spend well more than $1 million to get their messages across.

Stein has raised $1.3 million to Hahn’s $1 million.

Hahn’s central theme has been that Stein is untrustworthy; Stein’s, that Hahn has been ineffective.

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Most of Stein’s ads have featured endorsements by the main Los Angeles police union and by the popular Riordan, who the poll found is well ahead of his own opponent, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles).

But the poll indicated that Stein’s strategy of clinging to Riordan’s coattails has so far not helped him much.

Among all registered voters, Hahn got 41% to Stein’s 21%, with the rest undecided.

But among registered voters who said they were Riordan supporters, Stein drew only a somewhat higher 28%. Hahn’s tally fell only slightly to 39%.

The poll showed Stein doing best in two areas where Riordan does well. In the San Fernando Valley, Stein and Hahn appear to be in a close contest (32% for Hahn; 27% for Stein). And in Central Los Angeles, Stein with 24% appears to have a chance against the incumbent, who has 38%.

But Riordan’s popularity on the Westside does not appear to have helped Stein, Pinkus said.

And South Los Angeles remains firmly Hahn territory. The incumbent outpaces Stein there by 70% of registered voters to 10%.

Hahn grew up in the Crenshaw district and lives in San Pedro. His father, Kenneth Hahn, represented South Los Angeles as a county supervisor for 40 years.

Although his father’s name and political legend still carry great cachet, the poll indicated that Hahn has not cut a similarly large figure.

Although he has served 16 years as a citywide elected official, one in three of the city’s registered voters still do not know who he is.

Hahn has served for four years as city controller and for 12 as city attorney. The city attorney is the city’s chief prosecutor for misdemeanors, its chief defender of lawsuits and its chief legal advisor.

The poll found that registered voters who were aware of Hahn tended to think well of him. Only 17% said they had an unfavorable opinion.

And, as a group, Hahn’s supporters were more likely than Stein’s to describe themselves as solidly in their candidate’s corner. Two thirds of Hahn’s supporters among registered voters said they were certain to vote for him, compared to a little more than half of Stein’s.

Stein’s highest ratings were among whites, Jews, registered voters who described themselves as conservative and among voters whose family incomes exceeded $40,000 per year.

Still, he was outpaced by Hahn even in all those groups.

Only among white conservatives was Stein ahead, 35%-28%.

All told, among white registered voters, the poll found Stein trailing Hahn, 33% to 24%. Among Latino voters, Stein was trailing Hahn 40% to 24%. And among blacks, Stein was behind 73% to 11%.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Race for City Attorney

With the April 8 citywide election approaching, incumbent James K. Hahn maintains a solid lead over challenger Ted Stein.

If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?

(among registered voters)

Hahn: 41%

Undecided: 38%

Stein: 21%

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(among likely voters)

Hahn: 53%

Undecided: 21%

Stein: 26%

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What is your impression of James Hahn?

(among registered voters)

*--*

Reg. voters Whites Blacks Latinos Favorable 50% 43 75 46 Unfav. 17% 22 7 11 Don’t know 33% 35 18 43

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What is your impression of Ted Stein?

(among registered voters)

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Reg. voters Whites Blacks Latinos Favorable 17% 19 9 21 Unfav. 10% 8 17 10 Don’t know 73% 73 74 69

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Times Poll data is also available on the World Wide Web at

https://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/POLLS

Source: Los Angeles Times poll taken March 22 through March 27.