Mayor’s Race Thrills and Frustrates L.A. Latinos

Never before has a Los Angeles mayor’s race captured the attention of Latino voters as has this year’s contest.

They’re debating it in the aisles and cashier lines of Pioneer Supermarket in Echo Park. They’re buzzing about it at a Latino business awards luncheon in Universal City. They’re arguing about it in the faculty lounge at Cathedral High School.

The question often comes down to a gut-wrenchingly personal one, a choice between two friends: Who are you for, Antonio or Xavier? How do we decide?

With two Mexican American candidates--former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and Rep. Xavier Becerra--among the top six hopefuls, these voters could play their heftiest role yet in a city race, possibly making up one-fifth of the electorate on Tuesday. Adding impact is a recent push to register more Latinos in the city that added thousands to the voter rolls.

“We’re in that breakthrough surge where somebody who looks like us, who we feel really represents us, could win for the first time [since the 19th century],” said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, who said he believes that Latino turnout could hit a modern record of 23%. “The mayor of Los Angeles, are you kidding? People are going to go wild.”

At the same time, those giddy with the hope of electing the first Latino mayor in more than a century say they are anguished about having to choose between two of their own--a force that could blunt the strength of a potentially large voting bloc.

“We love them both,” said Lucia De Garcia, 45, the president of a Latin American development firm and an undecided voter, who went to hear Villaraigosa speak at a business luncheon at the Universal City Hilton last week. “If you understand the passion of the Latinos, for us it’s the hope that in the city of Los Angeles, with the majority being Latino, one of them wins. . . . We’ve never had to make a decision such as this.”

Barbara Gonzalez, a tenants rights activist who lives in Echo Park, is voting for the first time in a municipal election because of the prospect of electing a Latino mayor.

“As we say in Spanish, if you have the heart of Latinos, you know how your brothers or sisters feel,” said Gonzalez, 42, who became a citizen last year. “Now it is the time of the Latino people.”

Gonzalez and her neighbors debate the merits of both candidates as they shop at Pioneer Supermarket, trying to decide which one would better remember his roots if elected, which one has done more for Latinos, even which one is better looking.

Gonzalez has decided to vote for Villaraigosa--but feels torn.

“I know in my heart that Mr. Becerra is good too,” she said. “So how I can make a choice?

“I think that one of them should step out, to give the other the chance to be the mayor. Right now, one Latino is enough. Not two.”

Some prominent Latino leaders agree, and last year county Supervisor Gloria Molina and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros held a series of meetings with the two candidates, trying unsuccessfully to get one of them to bow out.

But others reject that thinking, and bristle at the idea that the city only has room for one Latino candidate.

Raul Perez, an entertainment lawyer who works for a Century City firm, said he believes that the presence of two respected Latino candidates is a sign of the political maturation of the community.

“I don’t think the old-fashioned politics of ‘It’s my turn, wait in line’ really applies to our generation of Latinos,” said Perez, who’s voting for Villaraigosa.

Perez, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, said he would be excited to see a Latino in the mayor’s office. But that was not the only factor that shaped his decision.

“Does my heart want to see the next mayor of Los Angeles be a Latino? Absolutely yes,” said Perez, 32, who lives in Elysian Park. “Will I be comfortable with a non-Latino? Absolutely yes, so long as I feel he represents my interests.”

The various perspectives about the race are a measure of the breadth and reach of the city’s growing Latino community, which now makes up between 43% and 47% of Los Angeles. Latinos have long been seen as a looming political force, but because many are not citizens or registered to vote, they have yet to show their full might at the ballot box in a citywide race. In the 1997 mayoral election, only 15% of the electorate was Latino.

Trying to hasten the change, Southwest Voter this year registered more than 4,000 Latinos through an extensive campaign at churches, neighborhood stores and carnivals. Antonio Gonzalez estimates that the total number of Latinos registered in the city is now about 315,000--more than enough to have an impact in a race in which 100,000 votes could push a candidate into the runoff.

Potential Voting Bloc May Not Materialize

But despite the swelling interest in the mayor’s race among Latinos, a number of factors are likely to diffuse what could be a large voting bloc this year, disappointing leaders eager to demonstrate the community’s clout.

Although more Latinos than other voters say they would cast a ballot for a candidate based on ethnicity, 37% of Latinos plan to vote for one of the four white candidates, according to a recent Times poll.

“It does Latinos a disservice to assume that we’re going to vote as a monolith,” said west San Fernando Valley resident Mario Pichardo, 42, a real estate attorney. Pichardo plans to vote for City Atty. James K. Hahn because he feels Hahn is the most qualified candidate.

“I’ve heard people make the argument that this is a historic opportunity,” he said. “But there’ll be other historic opportunities. I don’t think we should vote for a candidate based on ethnicity.”

There’s also the question of whether the lure of voting for somebody will be as strong a motivation as the desire to vote against something. In recent years, many Latinos have been drawn to the polls to fight propositions they view as threatening, especially after 1994, when California voters passed Proposition 187, which aimed to halt many public benefits for illegal immigrants. In 1996, they came out to vote against Proposition 209, which barred affirmative action in government, and in 1998 they helped defeat Proposition 226, which sought to control the spending of workers’ dues on politics. Proposition 227, which ended much of bilingual education, also drew out a divided Latino community that year.

“The $64,000 question still is: Will they turn out when there isn’t a polarizing issue on the ballot?” said Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.

For some, especially immigrants and older residents, interest in this year’s election stems from an intensely personal emotion.

Alvin Parra, an Eastside activist who works as a field deputy for Molina, calls the pride shaping the desire for a Latino mayor “the mijo syndrome,” referring to a Spanish term of affection for a younger person.

“I think there’s an underlying sense of hope that this is America, this is a place where if you work hard, you can make it,” Parra said. “Even if we don’t, we want the best for our children.”

The two candidates are appealing to this sentiment in different ways. Becerra has made a more plainly ethnic bid for votes, aggressively targeting Latino voters through Spanish-language television ads and a ground effort in Latino neighborhoods. He reminds voters of his defense of immigrants and bilingual education while in Congress. In his mailers, he is shown walking his daughters to school, the epitome of the family man. He often talks about being the son of immigrants and the first in his family to go to college.

“As mayor, I will always fight to defend the rights of the community from being attacked,” Becerra said during a Sunday mayoral forum sponsored by KMEX-TV Channel 34.

Born and Raised in East L.A.

Villaraigosa, on the other hand, has been trying to balance his message to his Latino base with an attempt to paint himself as a coalition candidate, telling even predominantly Latino audiences that he will be a mayor for all of Los Angeles. The former union organizer heavily promotes his labor support, and speaks of his rough-and-tumble youth in City Terrace, trying to relate to Latinos who come from working-class backgrounds.

“I’m the only candidate who was born and raised here in East Los Angeles,” Villaraigosa told the KMEX audience, alluding to Becerra’s Sacramento roots. “I will guarantee a better destiny for our community.”

Some voters say the choice between the two candidates has been made easier as Becerra has fallen behind the pack and Villaraigosa has emerged as a top contender. In a recent Times poll, Becerra garnered only 6% of the support of likely voters. But 23% of Latinos said they would vote for him--compared with 26% for Villaraigosa, indicating a significant split among Latino voters.

Martin Farfan, development director at Cathedral High School, debates with his co-workers about the two candidates during their lunch hour.

“It can get kind of hot, because some people say Becerra supports Latino issues more,” said Farfan, 32, a Villaraigosa voter who lives in El Sereno. “But what I’ve noticed now is that because of the momentum Antonio has, more people are saying he has a legitimate chance. Becerra’s a good guy too, but I don’t think it’s his time.”

Yet Pacoima resident Casimiro Haro said he doesn’t care that Becerra’s poll numbers are low.

“He appears to me a person who is more sincere, more frank,” said Haro, 71. “I have seen him work harder than the others.”

Alejandro Menchaca, a USC law student and president of the Latino Professional Network, feels drawn to Becerra but worries that the candidate won’t make the runoff.

“My life somewhat parallels Xavier’s a little more,” said Menchaca, who like Becerra went to Stanford. “I think maybe he’s more palatable to your more mainstream voter, because he’s got the Ivy League education and a very well-defined plan for the city. Whereas Antonio is more charismatic, gets people more excited and knows how to bring people together.”

He paused. “It’d be great if you could take those guys and meld them together,” he said.