Dozens of Candidates File for Alatorre’s, Alarcon’s Seats

With two wide-open districts for new Los Angeles City Council members, dozens of candidates lined up Tuesday to succeed lawmakers Richard Alarcon and Richard Alatorre in spring elections likely to seat new Latino leaders on the council.

With the San Fernando Valley’s Alarcon moving to the state Senate and the Eastside’s Alatorre deciding to stay out of the race, the two seats are expected to launch political careers with costly campaigns.

Those races are likely to be the most closely watched of the eight City Council elections because they have been singled out by political consultants, Latino elected officials and others as crucial to maintaining the momentum created by recent gains in Latino population and economic progress.

“I think this is a very exciting time for the city of Los Angeles,” said Fabian Nunez, the political director of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. “What you’re seeing essentially is a crop of new leadership to fill that space [left by Alarcon and Alatorre] and move it forward, take us one step further.”

Candidates say they will seek the endorsements of such Latino political power brokers as Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina and, of course, the outgoing incumbents of those offices, among many others.

An early indication of the importance of organized labor’s support in these races was the early withdrawal of John Perez’s candidacy for the Eastside seat. Perez, a state union official and a cousin of Villaraigosa, acknowledged that he did not want to divide the unions. The county labor federation’s political arm is expected to make endorsement recommendations to its executive board today. If labor decides not to endorse anyone in the primary, it still could endorse candidates in the June runoff.

With two dozen candidates meeting Tuesday’s filing deadline for the Valley’s 7th District and the Eastside’s 14th District seats, candidates now have until Feb. 8 to submit petitions with at least 500 signatures of registered voters to qualify for the April 13 primary.

They all hope to make it to a runoff. And some, who can raise enough money to qualify, hope to receive public matching funds.

In the Eastside race, 19 candidates have filed to run, including Victor Griego, a well-connected political organizer and consultant; Jorge Mancillas, a union political director; Juan Jose Gutierrez, who runs One Stop Immigration; Nick Pacheco, a deputy district attorney; Alvin Parra, a former candidate and a community activist; and Paul Gonzales, a city commissioner and former boxer and Olympic gold medalist.

“It’s not a slam-dunk,” Molina said. “There isn’t a 900-pound gorilla. You have some very good folks with different backgrounds, very diverse, and yet each one could be a very effective leader.”

Among the 10 candidates in the Valley’s 7th District are Ollie McCaulley, a government relations director; Corinne Sanchez, a community health director; and Alex Padilla, an MIT graduate and aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar).

In all, political analysts say they are heartened by the number of political newcomers--and women--in these races. They say such Latino elected officials as Alatorre and Villaraigosa are leading the way for a new generation of leaders.

Alatorre, who announced Friday that he would not seek reelection, is widely credited with helping to elect numerous Latinos to state and local office. Undergoing drug rehabilitation and a federal corruption investigation, Alatorre said he has decided to remain out of the race; he has not yet endorsed a successor.

The 14th District contest, which includes Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock and El Sereno, will be an intriguing race, analysts say, because of its political dynamics: Many influential state legislators represent that area, and it is seen as a Latino stronghold with important community leaders.

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work,” said Mancillas, the political director of the Service Employees International Union. “There are no guarantees.”

Griego added: “It’s going to be tough, extremely tough.”

The field of potential candidates in the east San Fernando Valley district race came into a little more focus Tuesday, where as many as 14 people were once considering running to fill Alarcon’s vacancy.

Alarcon initially endorsed his wife, Corina, for the race, but she dropped out, so Alarcon shifted his endorsement to Sanchez, an attorney who is president of the health services charity El Proyecto Del Barrio.

Another leading contender who filed papers by the deadline is Padilla, who not only has the endorsement of his boss, Cardenas, but also of the largest union representing city employees, the Service Employees International Union, Local 347. Former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II, a civil engineer for the city of Los Angeles, also filed papers by the deadline.

McCaulley, a 42-year-old Pacoima resident, is one of three African Americans who filed papers and does not believe the race will necessarily go to a Latino.

“Yes, the district is heavily Latino by population, but I think it’s wrong to say it only can be represented by a Latino,” McCaulley said.

City Council incumbents Hal Bernson, John Ferraro, Ruth Galanter, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Nate Holden and Joel Wachs all have announced that they will seek reelection. Of those politicians, Ridley-Thomas appeared to have the most challengers, with six. Holden is being challenged by several community activists with ties to both the Korean and large African American communities in that Mid-City District. Under voter-approved term limits, this would be the incumbents final term on the City Council.