Riordan Adds Fuel to Talk That He’ll Run for Governor

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, in town to lobby Congress and the White House for transportation and law enforcement money, spent much of Monday meeting the national press corps--and giddily stoking the speculation that he will enter the governor’s race this week.

Exactly a week ago, Riordan was denying any interest in the state’s top job, but as of Monday, he had gone from emphatically rejecting the idea to trying it on for size to boasting that he could hold his own against the predicted spending of multimillionaire businessman Al Checchi.

“Are [Checchi’s] deep pockets a cause for concern?” a reporter asked Riordan at the National Press Club, the mayor’s first stop in Washington.

“No,” he answered, “because my deep pockets are deeper than his deep pockets.”

Riordan laughed as he said that, since Checchi is thought to be the wealthier of the two. But the mayor’s leadership of the state’s largest city, combined with his sizable personal fortune and proven ability to raise money from contributors, have made him an overnight powerhouse in the state’s political scene, rattling potential rivals who have anxiously sought to appease him.

On Monday, Riordan estimated that it would cost $15 million to run a statewide primary campaign for governor and another $15 million to run in the general election. He said he believed he could easily raise that amount and added that he would dip into his own fortune if necessary.

“I’ll spend 10 times what Al Checchi will,” he said, laughing again.

As evidence of Riordan’s potential impact on the campaign, sources say a recent privately commissioned poll puts him at the top of the pack of potential contenders. According to those sources, Riordan finishes narrowly ahead of state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, a Republican; he and Lungren both run ahead of Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and Checchi, who are Democrats. What’s more, the poll found little public recognition of Riordan outside the Los Angeles area, suggesting that an aggressive campaign could bolster his standing, particularly in areas such as the Silicon Valley and other northern California population centers.

As he traveled around Washington on Monday, Riordan’s enthusiasm for a potential gubernatorial bid seemed to grow. Supporters approached him on the street to urge him to run, and others lobbied him behind closed doors. When a press photographer stopped to snap his picture leaving a House of Representatives office building, the mayor waved and asked: “Do I look gubernatorial?”

Riordan’s criticism of his potential rivals also sharpened Monday. He has challenged them to come up with plans to improve California schools and has said his candidacy would hinge on whether he was satisfied by the proposals other candidates were offering. According to Riordan, Checchi and Davis called him to sell him on their plans.

“They told me they have [ideas]” to revolutionize education, Riordan said. “Do I believe them? I’m standing here telling you I’m thinking of running.”

Later, Riordan stressed that he does not believe any of the announced candidates for governor have addressed the real problem with schools, namely that their governance is sloppy and inadequate. Only a governor committed to holding principals and teachers accountable for results will produce the necessary changes, Riordan said, adding that officials have to be willing to fire educators who fail children.

“We need a revolution,” he said at several stops. “And sometimes revolutions have to be bloody.”

One person who hasn’t been privy to Riordan’s discussions is Lungren. Asked Monday in Sacramento about the prospect of facing the mayor in the GOP primary, a smiling Lungren told reporters, “When I talked to him a year ago, he told me that it sounded like a good idea that I’d be the Republican nominee for governor and he would remain as mayor of Los Angeles.”

Lungren conceded that the two men have not talked lately.

In addition to meeting with reporters at the National Press Club, Riordan fielded questions all day and spent a relaxed evening session at U.S. News and World Report, where he met with reporters and editors. Asked about the governor’s race, he leaned back in his chair, folded his hands behind his head and noted that he has overcome some of his initial personal reservations about the idea.

Reporters from CNN, the Washington Post, Associated Press, Copley News Service and KNBC-TV Channel 4 also were lining up to talk to Riordan, and he is having breakfast with reporters and editors from The Times later this week.

In short, Riordan was acting like a candidate, even if he remains, as he said Monday, “50-50 on the idea.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills) met with three California congressional colleagues and three other political advisors at her husband’s Washington business office to discuss her potential candidacy. Sources close to Harman said she would decide today whether to enter the race.

Harman and Riordan have many of the same political allies, not least important Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Both are moderates who are fiscal conservatives but social progressives known for liberal stances on gay rights issues. Harman strategists believe she would have some advantages as the only female candidate in the race with a national fund-raising base among women. Riordan’s name recognition, however, is substantially higher.

Feinstein’s influence on the governor’s race, which she last month decided not to enter, remains profound. The senator is no fan of the leading contenders, and she is one of the state’s best-known and most popular officials. On Monday night, she and her husband, financier Richard Blum, had dinner with Riordan.

The mayor actually devoted most of his time Monday to lobbying federal officials for transportation assistance, particularly for the proposed expansion of Los Angeles International Airport and for the region’s troubled Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Previous lobbying by Riordan and other Los Angeles officials was already producing results. The Clinton administration Monday recommended that the MTA, despite its nationally known troubles, be allocated the full $100 million it requested in the coming year for the subway construction project.

The proposal now goes to Congress, which in past years has reduced the level of funding recommended by the administration. Congress last year provided $61.5 million for the subway project.

In Los Angeles, MTA officials said the $100 million, if approved by Congress, could help the agency out of at least one problem by freeing up, for other projects, some of the $207 million in state funds now set aside to complete subway construction to North Hollywood.

Times staff writers Jodi Wilgoren, Mark Z. Barabak and Richard Simon contributed to this story.