D-Day for 2 Visions of L.A.

Mayor Richard Riordan wrapped up his campaign for reelection Monday much as he began it, visiting large and small groups of supporters, battling for backing from an ambivalent African American community and touting his efforts to turn Los Angeles around.

Riordan is widely favored to win reelection despite a spirited campaign to unseat him by state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), and Monday he spent much of his time accepting early congratulations from supporters in San Pedro and the harbor area.

Riordan, 66, is not a natural campaigner. He was his most animated Monday when talking about a favorite history book, not about the intricacies of electioneering, and he tried time and again to fine-tune a way of claiming credit for his accomplishments without sounding boastful. Near the end of his day’s campaign schedule, Riordan conceded that he looks forward to the end of the race against an opponent who has needled and irritated him, particularly with his suggestions that Riordan has been insensitive to race relations.

“I’m a doer,” Riordan said outside one event. “Mr. Hayden has always been a critic from the sidelines.”

The campaign has helped to illustrate Riordan’s greatest political strengths--particularly his core support from businesses and white voters, as well as his determined effort to win the backing of a majority of the city’s Latino voters. It also has reaffirmed his weaknesses, which are most pronounced in the African American community. The latest Times poll showed large numbers of blacks turning against Riordan in recent weeks, with many citing the decision not to reappoint Police Chief Willie L. Williams as a reason for their unhappiness with Riordan’s leadership.

On Monday, however, Riordan was joined by two dozen black supporters, including ministers, elected officials and neighborhood activists. Riordan appeared cheered by the visible show of support. He smiled beneath a mural of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, as backers pledged their votes.

Among those who voiced their support: County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke credited Riordan with helping to turn the city’s economy around and with bringing jobs back to her district. The Rev. Rosey Grier, a former football star turned minister and activist, praised Riordan for making a difference in black communities. Bail bondsman and Congress of Racial Equality leader Celes King said Riordan has helped Los Angeles to remove some of the tarnish from its image. And state Sen. Teresa Hughes (D-Inglewood) praised Riordan for his longtime support of education.

“Mayor Riordan puts his money where his mouth is,” Hughes said. “And that’s in the African American community.”

With election day at hand and the mayor apparently enjoying a commanding lead, some Riordan supporters spoke Monday of trying to break a magical mark for a Republican seeking election in Los Angeles, 60% of the city’s vote.

That is an uphill climb for any candidate, but particularly for a Republican in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a margin of 2 to 1. As a result, Riordan loyalists downplay the significance of 60%.

All told, there are five candidates running in today’s mayoral election: Riordan, Hayden, newspaperman Leonard Shapiro, railroad worker Craig A. Honts and business owner Candido J. Marez. But only Hayden and Riordan have run significant, citywide campaigns, so there is little chance that one of them will fail to reach 50%. Reaching 60% is another matter, one that would require the winning candidate to piece together a broad coalition.

Riordan did not do that when he won in 1993, instead relying on strong support from whites, Republicans and San Fernando Valley residents to overcome poor showings in other parts of the city.

This time, however, he has run an effective, low-key campaign, emphasizing small personal appearances, where he is most comfortable, over policy addresses and other public gatherings that tend to draw attention to his halting speaking style. In addition, the mayor began his reelection effort early, winning endorsements from African American leaders long before Hayden entered the race and raising money to discourage other potential opponents.

Since officially launching his reelection campaign on Feb. 18, Riordan has invested heavily in television advertising, where he has aired two spots touting his own credentials and one knocking Hayden for his voting record in the Legislature. That was the closest Riordan has come to attacking Hayden, but the state senator has been forced to confront critics who remember his student activism and his marriage to actress Jane Fonda, a favorite conservative nemesis.

In contrast to Hayden’s largely volunteer campaign staff and his sprawling network of local offices, Riordan’s effort has been concentrated in a single, ramshackle Sherman Oaks office but spearheaded by a group of professional politicos, who are both seasoned and strikingly bipartisan.

His campaign consultant, Bill Carrick, is among Southern California’s most sought-after political insiders, and historically has worked for Democrats. The mayor’s pollster, Arnold Steinberg, is a leader in his field who usually works for Republicans. His campaign manager, Julio Ramirez, is a Democrat who worked to defeat Riordan in 1993 as part of City Councilman Mike Woo’s campaign. And Riordan’s campaign press secretary, Todd Harris, is a Republican who was part of Bob Dole’s presidential campaign.

Riordan’s mayoral press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez, took a leave of absence from city government to work for the campaign; she appears with Riordan at nearly every stop, briefing him and trying to keep him on schedule.

And looming behind the entire effort is Riordan’s best friend, the savvy and well-connected Bill Wardlaw, whose legendary reach in Democratic Party circles has made him one of the most respected and feared political operatives in Los Angeles. Asked Monday whether his ties to the Democratic Party have helped broaden Riordan’s base or draw traditional Democrats into the campaign, Wardlaw demurred.

“I think that’s a tribute to the mayor,” Wardlaw said. “He has proven that his bipartisan approach and his nonpartisan approach can draw support from Democrats and Republicans.”

The emphasis on bipartisanship underlies much of the Riordan campaign rhetoric, and has figured prominently in the endorsement sweepstakes, a game in which the mayor has thoroughly trumped his opponent.

Riordan’s most powerful endorsements came in the final weeks: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and City Councilman Richard Alatorre both crossed party lines to support the mayor in the nonpartisan race.

Even at the Los Angeles City Council, where the mayor’s relations have been frayed for the past four years, seven of the 15 members have publicly backed his reelection campaign. One of those supporters, Rudy Svorinich, accompanied Riordan to stops in the far southern reaches of Los Angeles on Monday as the mayor dedicated a new branch library in Harbor City, inspected a gymnasium under construction in San Pedro and spoke briefly to a senior citizens group in Peck Park, also in San Pedro.

At each stop, supporters wished Riordan well, and he pressed city officials with questions about the facilities he was touring. Why, Riordan asked, did staff at the new library need their own bathroom? How many supervisors, he asked later, were needed to look after children in a government day-care center?

In some cases, the questions made city staffers nervous. They hemmed and hawed rather than answer directly. Riordan cast them glances, then moved along.

But if his probing occasionally seemed to unnerve the people who work for and with him, the mayor nevertheless was welcomed by constituents, particularly by senior citizens who gathered for their weekly bingo game and who greeted his entrance with a standing ovation.

As he left that gathering, person after person pledged their support, with several saying that they had already cast their votes for Riordan by absentee ballot.

“Hell yes, I’m voting for Riordan,” said Tiger Reese, who has been announcing football games at San Pedro High School for 50 years. “I like his general attitude, and he’s trying to do a good job. How many people would do the job he’s doing for $1 a year?”

* ELECTION DAY: Los Angeles voters will decide civic and school races, a $2.4-billion bond proposal and a plan to rewrite the City Charter. B1