Alarcon Endorses Sanchez for City Council Seat

State Sen. Richard Alarcon endorsed Corinne Sanchez on Friday to succeed him on the Los Angeles City Council, placing the attorney and social service provider at the front of the race this spring to represent the northeast San Fernando Valley.

Surrounded by a hastily arranged group of supporters outside the San Fernando Mission, Alarcon said it was Sanchez’s 27 years of community service that separated her from the two other front-runners he considered backing after his wife, Corina, opted not to run.

“I chose not to select the politician,” he said of former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II, who stepped down from that post to run for the more high-profile office Alarcon vacated.

“I chose not to select the campaign expert,” he said of legislative aide Alex Padilla, a 25-year-old wunderkind who worked on numerous high-profile campaigns last year, including Alarcon’s.

“I chose the community servant,” he said of Sanchez, executive director of El Proyecto del Barrio, which provided job training, health care and other services to 25,000 Valley residents last year.

Alarcon said he notified Sanchez on Thursday night and called Godinez and Padilla on Friday morning, explaining his difficult choice and urging them to run clean campaigns leading up to the April primary.

If elected, Sanchez said she would focus on attracting more jobs and public service dollars to the 7th District, historically the poorest part of the Valley. She specifically promised to continue pushing the projects Alarcon had championed, such as improving local libraries and trying to obtain an additional police station for the district.

A former supporter of breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District, Sanchez said she had not yet taken a position on that issue this time around, and had also yet to take a side on Valley secession.

“I’m going to be fighting for the interests of the northeast Valley, the whole Valley and the entire city of Los Angeles,” she said. “We know we deserve more.”

Godinez, who said he is still pondering whether to formally enter the race, said Alarcon’s endorsement would not affect his decision.

“I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get it,” he said. “But when I started to look at [running], I thought he was endorsing his wife, so I never expected to get it. Endorsements are important, but not too important.”

Padilla was walking precincts Friday and could not be reached for comment.

The race to replace Alarcon was thrown wide open last month when Corina Alarcon announced she was not running after all, surprising many political observers. Alarcon’s endorsement could set the stage for a heated showdown between Sanchez and Padilla, an aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) with strong ties to Los Angeles’ Latino labor leaders.

A source in the politically resurgent Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which is preparing to take a major role in the 7th District race, said Padilla is strongly favored to obtain the group’s endorsement later this month.

Fabian Nunez, political director of the county federation, said Friday no decision had been made.

“We think there are some formidable candidates in the 7th District, no question about that,” Nunez said. “The federation of labor will be very involved in the 7th Council race. We consider it a critical race for Los Angeles. We plan to interview all the candidates, but it looks like it’s between Alex, Corinne and Raul.”

Other potential candidates include Fred Flores, an aide to Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills); Tony Lopez, district director for the Boy Scouts of America; Irene Tovar, head of the Latin American Civic Assn.; Leroy Chase, administrator of the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley, and community activist Barbara Perkins.