Sanchez, Padilla Pace Funds Race

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

Sanchez, who runs a social service agency, reported her campaign had received $200,300 in contributions and city matching funds through March 27--a record for primary elections 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 fund-raising assistance from Mayor Richard Riordan, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and union leaders, which helped him gather $186,525 in contributions and city matching funds by last Saturday, with $33,000 reported unspent.

A Padilla campaign official said the candidate has raised enough over the past six days to put him over the $200,000 mark.

Along with the 14th Council District, where Richard Alatorre is not seeking reelection, the 7th District race is seen by many as a watershed event in local Latino politics, providing the opportunity for the next wave of leaders to take office. Most observers predict neither front-runner will win a majority in this month’s balloting, and that Sanchez and Padilla will face off a final time at the polls on June 8.

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

Those contributing to Sanchez in the past month include the L.A. League of Conservation Voters, Pacific Theaters, civil rights attorney Samuel Paz, Women’s Political Committee and Paula Petrotta, executive director of the city Commission on the Status of Women.

In comparison with 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 the then-record $192,000 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.

“There’s a tremendous amount of interest in and out of the district. You have two front-runners that are seen as awesome candidates,” Englander said.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), for whom Padilla works as a legislative aide, said Padilla has proven 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 fund-raising.

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

Sanchez said she is still hopeful she will get close to $300,000 by election day.

“It means a lot,” she said of the money raised so far. “It’s going to provide the impetus to get the rest of my mailers out and to get my message out.”