Confusing Richards

What’s in a name? Potential problems, it seems, for Los Angeles City Councilman and state Senate hopeful Richard Alarcon. As many as 17.5% of voters in the San Fernando Valley district that Alarcon wants to represent confuse him with his colleague, Eastside Councilman Richard Alatorre.

Now, a name can come in handy--as it did in 1990 when a mid-level bureaucrat named Kenneth Hahn grabbed the office of L.A. County assessor largely because he shares the name of the popular (and unrelated) late county supervisor. And in a June supervisorial race in Orange County, incumbent Jim Silva faces three opponents, one of whom has been invisible on the campaign trail but still retains the potential to confuse voters because of his name: Ralph S. Silva. Again, no relation.

In Alarcon’s case, though, the name mix-up smells not nearly so sweet. Alatorre has been accused of a variety of misdeeds and is the subject of a wide-ranging federal probe. To clear up the confusion, Alarcon is sending out 200,000 mailers listing his accomplishments and pointing out that he’s not that Richard. (Alarcon’s opponent in the primary, former state Assemblyman Richard Katz, is saying that he’s not either of the other two Richards.) Alarcon claims he’d do the same even if Alatorre was not the focus of investigation.

Don’t blame Alarcon. He plays to a fickle, often uninformed and unprepared electorate. Sure, the confusion is amusing. But think about this: Nearly 1 in 5 voters in one San Fernando Valley district can’t tell their electoral candidates apart. Suddenly, it’s not so funny.