Soboroff Files Papers Launching Bid for Mayor

Steven Soboroff, a real estate consultant and unpaid special advisor to Mayor Richard Riordan, submitted papers Tuesday formally declaring his interest in running for mayor.

“This is the first step in the process of becoming the next mayor of Los Angeles,” Soboroff said. “I’m excited about it. I’m optimistic about it.”

Soboroff, a Republican, has been semi-publicly weighing a mayoral bid for months, so the filing of the papers was not a surprise. Sources close to Soboroff said he initially considered declaring his candidacy months ago but held off out of concern that his interest in succeeding his friend, Riordan, might offer opponents of a proposed city charter ammunition in their campaign to defeat it.

As it is, Soboroff brings obvious strengths and weaknesses to the effort. Gregarious and congenial, he has served as a parks commissioner and as a member of the group supervising money from a recently passed bond issue that is going toward a major expansion of Los Angeles schools.

Soboroff also is personally wealthy. He has told associates that he is willing to contribute $2 million to $3 million of his own money to the campaign, enough to make him a serious contender despite relatively little name recognition. He also can expect support from--and probably the endorsement of--Riordan, a longtime friend and admirer who enjoys considerable personal popularity with voters.

But Riordan’s influence over the next mayor’s race is hard to gauge. In the past, he has had mixed success convincing voters to back his chosen candidates--winning support for a slate of school board candidates, for instance, but losing in his effort to elect his slate of charter reform commissioners.

That is particularly true because Soboroff cannot rely on the same political circle that has helped Riordan win important battles.

Bill Wardlaw, the lawyer and Democratic Party insider who has advised Riordan through his two elections, has publicly voiced skepticism about Soboroff’s electability.

Election day for the mayor’s post is April 10, 2001. The papers filed Tuesday allow Soboroff to begin soliciting contributions for his campaign.