Padilla Savors Lead as Sanchez Regroups

A day after voters established Alex Padilla as the front-runner for the 7th District City Council District, the young candidate relished his standing but planned for an aggressive campaign for the June runoff election against Corinne Sanchez.

Padilla, a 26-year-old legislative aide, received 47.9% of the vote, far outdistancing second-place finisher Sanchez, who received 24.7%.

“The lead was a little surprising, but I’m very encouraged as we launch an intensive campaign for the runoff,” Padilla said Wednesday morning as he sat in his empty campaign headquarters in Pacoima.

He said voters repudiated Sanchez’s attack on his age and verified the importance of his having grown up in the district.

Sanchez, who heads a social service agency, was trying to figure out Wednesday how the wheels came off her campaign and how to get it back on track.

“I was shocked,” she said. “We’re regrouping and strategizing a new approach for the general election.”

Sanchez, 52, was frustrated that she did not do better despite a campaign war chest of more than $250,000 and strong endorsements that included state Sen. Richard Alarcon--the 7th District’s former councilman--and County Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky.

“I’m mad, and my anger is about what didn’t work, because I thought we had everything pretty well set up,” Sanchez said.

Supporters she cultivated before election day did not go out to vote. For the runoff she plans to spend more time walking neighborhoods to establish personal contacts. Padilla beat Sanchez in 63 of 71 precincts and received nearly twice as much of the absentee vote as did Sanchez.

She said she will also continue to attack what she termed Padilla’s lack of experience.

“The guy is a package and I’m going to challenge the package,” she said. “I’m going to say, ‘What did you do, Mr. Padilla?’ ”

Sanchez said she plans to make major changes in her campaign organization. Her campaign manager for field operations, Jorge Flores, had previously decided not to stay for the runoff.

Candidates said some issues did not seem to resonate with voters in the primary.

Padilla didn’t seem to be hurt when he received a “C” grade from Valley VOTE, the group that wants the Valley to secede from Los Angeles, based on his refusal to say whether he would support the breakup if a study finds it causes no harm.

Valley VOTE gave “A” grades to Sanchez and Ollie McCaulley, who placed fifth.

Both Sanchez and Padilla plan to aggressively pursue endorsements from the four other candidates who ran in Tuesday’s primary.

Former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II, who finished in fourth place, said the difference was Padilla’s huge cadre of volunteers, including many deployed by union backers.

The low turnout of 24.6% made it essential that campaigns get their supporters out, Godinez said.

“With the low turnout, the person with the most people getting out the vote gets the vote,” Godinez said.

In addition to his own campaign crew of about 300 workers, the county Federation of Labor helped organize another 200 get-out-the-vote volunteers, in addition to putting $57,000 into an independent mail campaign for Padilla.

Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said the unions will now consider what role they should play in the runoff, saying the Valley race “was our No. 1 target yesterday.”

“We need to examine how much additional effort we’re going to put in to ensure a Padilla election,” Contreras said. Precinct reports indicate Padilla’s support was strong throughout the district. Sanchez won few precincts and many of those had low turnout. Padilla had strong turnout in the precincts he dominated.

Political consultant Harvey Englander said Padilla’s big lead in the primary may help Padilla and hurt Sanchez in fund-raising.

“It’s going to be tough,” Englander said. “Does she look or smell or feel like a winner? Today she doesn’t.”

Alarcon concedes that Sanchez faces a difficult task of changing the perception that Padilla is way in front.

But Alarcon and Yaroslavsky told Sanchez on election night that they both came back from poor, second-place finishes in primaries to win runoffs.

“Nothing’s impossible,” Alarcon said. “But Corinne Sanchez has her work cut out for her if she is to prevail.”

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Bonds Get Little Support in Valley

Breakdown by council district of the vote on Proposition 1, the $744-million police and fire bond measure:

(Please see microfilm for full bar chart information)

RIORDAN CELEBRATES: Revolution is now, mayor declares after his candidates do well in L.A. Unified races. A1

* RACE CARD TRUMPED: Political observers say playing to racial pride no longer guarantees victories. A1