3 on Council to Endorse Holden Foe

At least three Los Angeles City Council members will back Pastor Madison Shockley’s run against their colleague, 10th District Councilman Nate Holden, in the June 8 runoff election.

Council members Mark Ridley-Thomas, Michael Feuer and Jackie Goldberg confirmed to The Times that they will endorse Shockley. A Shockley aide said Laura Chick also will support the challenger. Council sources said possibly two other city lawmakers also will announce their support for Shockley.

Shockley has scheduled a news conference this morning blocks away from Holden’s Mid-City house to announce the endorsements. Shockley declined to comment on the backing before the news conference.

Asked about the unusual step his colleagues are taking by publicly backing his opponent, Holden said “that’s OK. They don’t live in my district, so they don’t know about the good work I’ve done.”

Holden said he believes that Ridley-Thomas, who has clashed with him, is behind the endorsements. “My only guess is that Mark is recruiting them,” Holden said.

Ridley-Thomas denied orchestrating the endorsements. “Holden continues to underestimate how deeply he has repeatedly offended his colleagues and disappointed his constituents,” he said.

One City Council source said that other council members decided independently that they would turn against Holden, then asked Ridley-Thomas to coordinate the endorsements for Shockley. “People felt that Mark had to do it if anyone was going to, because of the racial politics, “ the source said.

Like Holden, Ridley-Thomas is African American. Goldberg, Feuer and Chick are white.

Holden received 49% of the vote in the April 13 primary, narrowly missing the majority he needed for reelection. Earlier this month, Holden announced that two of his primary opponents, Scott Suh and Marsha Brown, will endorse him in the runoff.

“This should upstage those endorsements,” said Roy Hong, one of four Shockley campaign co-chairmen. Hong said Chick too will back Shockley. Chick was not available for comment.

Goldberg is touring power plants in China with a Department of Water and Power delegation, but Sharon Delugach, Goldberg’s chief of staff, confirmed that Goldberg will endorse Shockley.

Despite Hong’s assertion, Chick has not announced an endorsement and will not attend the news conference, her aides said.

Feuer said he, along with several of his colleagues, believes that Shockley represents the type of leader that is needed on the council.

“Madison offers the leadership skills, the intelligence, the commitment, the idealism and the integrity to make a marvelous colleague at a time when Los Angeles is moving forward,” said Feuer.

The councilman, incidentally, plans to announce his candidacy for city attorney today.

“I think this choice is really indicative of the broader choices we face in the city collectively: We can look backward or we can look forward,” he said. “ We can look to qualities that will unify us or qualities that will divide us.”

In addition, Feuer said: “This is an opportunity from my perspective to seize a moment and take advantage of the fact that there is a candidate with real special qualities stepping forward.”