Sanchez Slightly Ahead of Padilla in Fund-Raising

In the final days of the hotly contested race for the 7th City Council District seat, Corinne Sanchez has taken a slight lead in fund-raising over Alex Padilla, with the two of them far outdistancing other candidates, according to reports filed Thursday with the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

Sanchez, who runs a social service agency, reported that her campaign had received $200,300 in contributions and city matching funds through March 27--a record for a primary election in the northeast San Fernando Valley district. She had $67,000 in the bank at the end of the filing period.

She received fund-raising help from county Supervisor Gloria Molina and former 7th District Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose election to the state Senate created the vacancy to be filled in the April 13 election.

Padilla, a legislative aide, received fundraising assistance from Mayor Richard Riordan, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and union leaders, which helped him bring in $186,525 in contributions and city matching funds by last Saturday, with $33,00 unspent.

A Padilla campaign official said that he has raised enough to put him over the $200,000 mark in the last six days.

Most observers predict that neither front-runner will win a majority April 13, and that Sanchez and Padilla will face off a final time in the election June 8.

Along with the race in the 14th Council District, where Richard Alatorre is not seeking election, the 7th District contest is seen by many as a watershed event in local Latino politics, providing the opportunity for the next wave of leaders to take office.

Rivals have stated that Padilla has drawn substantial support from downtown interests, including the mayor and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Padilla has reported that many of his contributions are coming from unions, as well as allies and appointees of the mayor. Sanchez has reported support from a mix of physicians, lawyers and developers.

In comparison to Sanchez and Padilla, former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II raised $52,000 for his campaign, including a $15,000 bank loan. Youth services director Tony Lopez has collected $50,000 and housing agency manager Ollie McCaulley has raised $14,000.

Alarcon, who raised $192,000--at that time a record--for the primary election he won in 1997, said he is not surprised by the large amounts being raised this year.

The senator said his decision to leave the council has triggered a flurry of interest by those who want their candidate to be the next 7th District council member.

“It’s an indication of how important this election is,” Alarcon said. “We’re in a period of transition, so it is, particularly for the Latino community, a very significant race.”

Other interests, including organized labor and city contractors, have also weighed in heavily with money.

“I’m not surprised by the amounts raised because both have heavyweight supporters behind them,” said political consultant Harvey Englander, who is not working for any of the candidates.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), for whom Padilla works as a legislative aide, said Padilla has proved so adept at fund-raising that Cardenas may not launch an independent expenditure campaign on his behalf.

“He’s doing very well,” Cardenas said. “When I ran for the Legislature in a larger area, we did it with $150,000. He’s well within where he needs to be to get his message out.”

Even so, the county Federation of Labor has already set up phone banks as part of an independent expenditure campaign to supplement Padilla’s fundraising.

Padilla and Sanchez are the only ones so far to receive matching funds, taking in more than $50,000 each.