Glendale Mayor Decides Not to Seek Wildman’s Assembly Seat

Saying he is needed more in Glendale than in Sacramento, Mayor Larry Zarian announced Tuesday that he will not challenge Assemblyman Scott Wildman in the November elections.

Zarian, who has been pressed by state Republican Party leaders to seek the Republican nomination, was seen as having the best chance of unseating Wildman and retaking the 43rd Assembly District for Republicans.

The district had been a GOP stronghold for years until Wildman, a Democrat from Los Feliz, won the seat two years ago. Unseating Wildman is a priority of the California Republican Party.

Mike Madrid, a spokesman for the California Republican Party, said his party still believes it can retake the district despite Zarian’s decision not to run. “It’s one of the major targeted seats, if not the top targeted seat,” he said.

Although Zarian said he wants a Republican to win the seat, he said he feels he needs to stay in Glendale to help break in the city’s new police chief and city manager. “I feel that more is accomplished here locally than in Sacramento,” he said at a news conference in his office.

Still, Zarian, 60, did not rule out a run for the seat in two years and suggested that a Republican candidate would better serve the conservative constituents of the district.

“This announcement is just for two years,” he said. “I don’t know what will happen in the next term.”

The two declared Republicans in the race are Peter Repovich, a Los Angeles Police Department officer who ran a close second in the 1996 primary, and Craig Missakian, a Los Angeles attorney who came in sixth.

John Geranios, the Republican nominee who lost to Wildman in 1996, has already announced he will not seek the nomination again this year. The deadline to declare is Monday.

Zarian declined to make an endorsement in the race, saying he is still evaluating the candidates.

He boasted that had he decided to run, he would have had the support of the Republican Party and would have beaten Wildman.

“There is no doubt in my mind that I would have won the election,” he said.

Zarian is a fixture in Glendale politics, and has served as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. His tenure coincided with subway tunneling problems, such as the sinkhole in North Hollywood--problems that Zarian complained most people will associate with his leadership.

In an interview, Wildman said Zarian “would have been a worthy opponent,” adding: “I’m glad he’s staying in Glendale.” Wildman said he knows that the Republican Party is out to unseat him and he expects a tough race regardless of who wins the Republican nomination.

Times correspondent Jon Steinman contributed to this story.