L.A. Candidates Seek Convention Coattails

If President Clinton a few days ago was not fully versed in who is running for Los Angeles mayor next year, he is now.

Three of the five leading candidates--Antonio Villaraigosa, Xavier Becerra and Steve Soboroff--have gotten together with the president during the past few days.

Though the private meetings will probably not lead to a presidential endorsement, they did help in securing one of the more sought after byproducts of the Democratic National Convention: exposure.

The week’s countless networking opportunities have filled the calendars of local Democrats and Republicans alike, ranging from local school board candidates to those gunning for the area’s high-profile posts.

Soboroff, who spoke about the mayoral race with Clinton before a round of golf Saturday, said the fact that, as a Republican, he is not directly connected to the convention does not mean he can’t benefit from it.

“A lot of my supporters are doing events around the city and I’ve stopped by there,” he said. “I’m trying to be as flexible as I can with my time.”

It all started almost as soon as the more than 5,000 delegates and visiting dignitaries began arriving in Los Angeles on Friday.

Hoping to help Becerra (D--Los Angeles) get reelected to Congress in November, Clinton appeared at a fund-raising dinner for him Friday that is said to have raised more than $100,000. Though the money is not enough to fully endow a campaign war chest, the subsequent buzz around town about the dinner provided a much larger payoff.

Becerra was very upbeat at his fund-raiser, enthusiastically saying, “What a way to open the Democratic convention.”

He went on joke that while in Congress he stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Clinton. Then he glanced at the much taller man standing beside him and joked, “or maybe I should say, shoulder to chest.”

On Sunday, Becerra hosted journalists from around the world during a Latino Committee 2000 brunch and on Monday he participated in a panel discussion aimed at increasing youth civic participation.

Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), who met with Clinton on Monday at the president’s request, said Clinton told him that he would not make any endorsement for Los Angeles mayor.

The former Assembly speaker has recently spent his time sitting on panels about the future of progressive politics, working families and education. To persistent applause Monday, Villaraigosa spoke about coalition-building and reducing the poverty gap at the Shadow Convention in Patriotic Hall.

On Thursday, Villaraigosa will be a speaker at the Democratic convention.

But he said he sees the Democratic convention as a distraction to his mayoral campaign.

“The mayor’s race is going to be won or lost in the neighborhoods and communities that make up Los Angeles, not at the DNC,” Villaraigosa said. “We live in a time when many people feel cynical about government and the political process. I’m using every opportunity I can to engage people in a civic dialogue.”

City Atty. James K. Hahn, another mayoral candidate, was busy rubbing elbows with fellow Democrats and did not return phone calls Monday. Candidate Joel Wachs, a City Council member and a political independent, also was not available for comment.

Steve Cooley, a Republican who is challenging incumbent Gil Garcetti for district attorney, said he did not see much exposure for himself coming from the convention.

While Garcetti was spotted Monday gripping hands and chatting with foreign diplomats at an International Leaders Forum luncheon, Cooley shut down his campaign for the week.

In talking to his advisors about it, he said, “the conclusion was, anything you do would be meaningless anyway. The focus is on the Democratic National Convention. Who can compete with that? Little old me?”

* Times staff writers Mitchell Landsberg, Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Margaret Ramirez contributed to this story.