Padilla Likely to Get Labor Groups’ Support

Top officials of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor have recommended endorsing Alex Padilla in the race for the 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, officials announced Thursday.

If the federation’s delegates vote Monday to ratify the recommendation of the 90-member executive board of the Council on Political Education, which observers say is likely, it will be a major boost to Padilla’s campaign in the largely working-class district.

“I think in Alex Padilla we have a rising star in the city of Los Angeles,” said Miguel Contreras, the executive secretary-treasurer of the federation, an umbrella group for 320 unions representing more than 700,000 members. “He represents the new generation.”

“We’re going to plant our flag and make our presence known in the 7th,” said Contreras.

Padilla, a 25-year-old graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a legislative aide, welcomed the backing of the executive board.

“I’m thrilled,” said Padilla, one of the leading candidates in a field of 10 who have declared their intentions to run for the seat vacated when Richard Alarcon was elected to the state Senate.

“Certainly there are a lot of union members and working-class families in this district and this is another way to engage them,” Padilla said.

Rick Taylor, Padilla’s campaign manager, said an endorsement by the Council on Political Education also means money and volunteers.

“It gives you hundreds and hundreds of troops to put on the streets to communicate your message,” Taylor said.

Padilla, an aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), had previously won the endorsement of key members of the county federation, including the largest union representing city employees, the Service Employee International Union, Local 347.

In interviews with candidates earlier this week, Contreras said Padilla had a compelling story to tell: a young Latino, growing up poor and struggling, who made it to a prestigious university and then returned to his home.

“His father was a cook in a union restaurant, his mother cleaned houses,” Contreras said. “He would walk to the bus stop with them in the morning and wait for them in the evening. Here’s a fellow, who given the opportunity, went to MIT and swept the gymnasium and athletic field to pay for it. He chose to come back to Pacoima, to work in the community, to work in politics.”

“When he left the room [after his interview], it was clear who was going to get the endorsement,” Contreras said. “It was clear that he represents the best of his generation. The absolute best.”