Alarcon May Feel Fallout of Primary

There’s no arguing that Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon has money, name recognition and voter registration all in his favor next week as voters decide whether to send him to the state Senate.

But if Alarcon wins the seat, and political observers say he is the overwhelming front-runner, the question remains: at what price?

Perhaps no local race turned out nastier this year than the June primary battle in which Alarcon eventually defeated Richard Katz for the Democratic nomination for the 20th District seat.

The contest was marred by accusations of race-baiting, quarrels at the county clerk’s office and lawsuits.

The day of the primary, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony took the unprecedented step of publicly criticizing Alarcon for sending literature featuring a photo of Mahony administering Holy Communion to him.

At the time, Mahony said the mailer incorrectly implied that he endorsed Alarcon, and he asked Alarcon to never use his photo in future campaign literature.

Alarcon won the primary by 29 votes and advanced to become the Democratic candidate against Republican Ollie McCaulley and Libertarian Linda Starr.

But it’s a win that came at a still-untallied price.

Katz, a former Democratic leader in Sacramento, said he has not spoken to Alarcon since the election. And Mahony’s spokesman, Father Gregory Coiro, said that as of last week, more than four months since the election, the cardinal has yet to receive an apology from Alarcon.

Dick Rosengarten, publisher of the political newsletter CalPEEK, said he believes Alarcon has taken a hit, noting that Alarcon supporters angered many Democrats with their tactics.

Most notable was a mailer issued by Alarcon’s biggest supporter, state Sen. Richard Polanco (D--Los Angeles), and written by Alarcon campaign consultant Richie Ross.

The mailer falsely linked Katz to a 1988 incident in Orange County in which Republican candidates posted guards around voting booths to intimidate Latinos.

“It’s not going to cost him the election, but he’s got some damage to repair,” Rosengarten said. “There are plenty of Democrats who are unhappy . . . come election day, you may see some defections from the Democratic side and you may see a huge drop-off (in voting).”

Mike Madrid, political director of the California Republican Party, agreed that Democrats are unhappy with what happened during the primary and said he believes it will favor his party’s candidate, McCaulley.

“Clearly I think there’s some fallout from the race in June. Everybody involved got hurt,” said Madrid, referring to Polanco, Katz, Ross and Alarcon, who have become known in political circles as the “Four Richards.”

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For his part, Alarcon dismisses suggestions that he is being haunted by the primary.

“Since I’ve won the primary, I’ve been invited to many of the Senate meetings and convenings and have been welcome,” Alarcon said. “They understand more than anybody the political process and that campaigns can be bitter.”

Alarcon added that he is open to patching things up with Katz and that he is “absolutely” open to working with his former challenger. As for Mahony, Alarcon said he has tried to have a meeting with the cardinal to apologize.

“I want to have a face-to-face conversation with [Mahony], but because he’s been ill and in surgery, the meeting never happened,” Alarcon said. “I apologize for any implications whatsoever that he took [the campaign literature] as an endorsement or that he took it that I was implying that he endorsed me.”

Alarcon is vying for the Senate seat held by Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), who is being forced out by term limits. And he clearly has several factors working to his advantage.

According to recent voter registration records, the number of Democrats in the district outnumber Republicans 57% to 25%. Alarcon’s total campaign contributions at the end of September exceeded $815,000, compared to the modest $32,956 for McCaulley. (Starr, meanwhile, estimates she has spent roughly $50 printing fliers.)

If elected, Alarcon said he plans to focus on improving public safety, economic development and education.

Specifically, Alarcon favors continued class-size reduction, building more schools and increasing parent participation at schools.

He also supports the completion of a study to examine Valley secession. Alarcon said he favors working to reform the Los Angeles Unified School District, and, if necessary, breaking it into smaller districts.

McCaulley supports not only breaking up the LAUSD but also the Metropolitan Transportation Authority so the San Fernando Valley can have its own bus and rail lines. He also favors raises for state employees and better regulations of HMOs.

If elected, McCaulley, a former Marine who is the governmental relations director for Community Partnership Development Corp., said he will fight for the Valley’s right to become its own city.