Hahn and Villaraigosa Now Must Shift Focus

They are two native sons of Los Angeles, leaders of solid coalitions that pushed them past a formidable field and within striking distance of becoming the next mayor of the city. But Antonio Villaraigosa and James K. Hahn must now step up their fund-raising, refocus their campaigns to target one another and capture thousands of voters who rejected both of them.

The former Assembly speaker and the four-term city attorney began honing strategies Wednesday for an intense showdown leading into the June 5 runoff election. The contest will pit Villaraigosa, a charismatic figure who represents the emerging hopes of Latinos and the national labor movement, against Hahn, an established politician who believes he appeals more readily to the broad core of moderate homeowners who have dominated city voting for decades.

Rather than aiming to finish first or second in a six-way race, both candidates now shift to positioning themselves against one another, emphasizing their own strengths and their opponent’s weaknesses.

Villaraigosa’s greatest challenge will be to win voters in the middle--making himself familiar and comfortable to those who may know him only as the liberal standard bearer of unions, environmentalists and women’s groups. Hahn’s central task will be to bring energy and enthusiasm to a candidate and campaign that have at times seemed listless, and establishing a connection with voters that runs deeper than simply their affection for his late father, the popular County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

After the most expensive April mayoral contest in history, the runoff promises to be lavishly funded, with third-party groups potentially spending more than the candidates themselves. Among the groups that waded into the election’s first round were the political parties, labor unions, the National Rifle Assn. and even a Southern California Indian tribe. The spending on those groups’ mailers, radio ads and phone messages remained secret, exempted from campaign disclosure laws.

By no coincidence, both Hahn and Villaraigosa went to the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday morning to launch the second phase of the campaign. The two men acknowledged that they consider votes from the Valley a key to amassing a majority. That region is largely up for grabs because businessman Steve Soboroff and Councilman Joel Wachs, who together captured nearly 45% of the vote there Tuesday, are now out of the race and the loyalties of their supporters remain unknown.

Villaraigosa said he called his press conference Wednesday at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City “because I believe this is going to be ground zero for my campaign.”

Hahn sounded the same note at his Van Nuys Civic Center meeting. “I think the Valley is crucial to this election,” he said. “I plant my flag here.”

On the surface, the two candidates are similar, both liberal Democrats with connections to the powerful labor movement, both having established their political bases in ethnic communities--Villaraigosa in the largely Latino Eastside, Hahn in the largely black communities of South Los Angeles. But the requisites for each in the next eight weeks are far different:

Runoff Called ‘Old L.A. vs. New L.A.’

Ebullience in the Villaraigosa campaign appeared boundless on election night and into Wednesday, as the candidate and his supporters celebrated what they see as the beginning of a new power alliance in Los Angeles.

Villaraigosa finished ahead of Hahn, not just on the Eastside, but on the Westside and in the Valley. He prevailed among voters of every economic stratum and bested Hahn among union members and Jewish and Catholic voters. He dominated the Latino vote, with the support of nearly two-thirds.

Miguel Contreras, a potent Villaraigosa ally and the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said the Hahn-Villaraigosa runoff will pit the “old L.A. versus new L.A.” Contreras depicted Hahn as a member of the insider elite and Villaraigosa as the reforming outsider.

“They’ll try to demonize [Villaraigosa] but at the end of the day, it’s going to be about leadership,” Contreras said. “When you put those two candidates together and talk about the leadership of Los Angeles, there’s only one there who has proven leadership.”

Villaraigosa does have some seeming advantages as he moves into the runoff. He has already accumulated more supporters than Hahn, with 30% of Tuesday’s vote, compared with Hahn’s 25%. The trajectory of his race--coming from behind to win--gives him more momentum and enthusiasm than the city attorney, whom polls have shown at essentially the same stalled level of support for more than a month.

The chance that Villaraigosa could become the first Latino to be elected mayor since Cristobal Aguilar left office in 1872 has already captured broad attention. The arrival of the national media to chronicle his possible breakthrough heralded the endorsements and campaign contributions from around the country that are sure to follow, particularly from Latinos and labor activists.

Contreras said he believes union leaders will embrace the Villaraigosa candidacy in the nation’s fastest-growing union city, as a symbolic counterbalance against the Republican administration in Washington.

Villaraigosa would, if elected, serve as “a national spokesman for working families,” Contreras said.

Union power was much in evidence on the phone lines and in the streets of Los Angeles in the last week, as 1,400 union volunteers helped get out the vote for Villaraigosa. The union coalition will do at least as much work for the runoff, the union chief pledged. “We’re good craftsmen,” said Contreras. “We don’t leave a job half done.”

Villaraigosa will benefit from another massive communication effort by the California Democratic Party, like the one just completed that delivered as many as half a dozen mailers to some party households.

The party could spend freely because of a fund-raising effort that brought in donations from contributors such as Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, both billionaires and avid supporters of the former state legislator. Although party donors cannot legally earmark their dollars for one candidate, those contributions clearly helped Villaraigosa in the first round.

Because of a new state law that took effect Jan. 1, the spending on any “member communications” to Democrats do not have to be reported to elections officials in either the state or city until well after the new mayor takes office July 1.

That has led to charges from Hahn and others that Villaraigosa is benefiting from “secret” campaign contributions that are unfairly skewing the election in his favor. That challenge will be one of many that Villaraigosa faces as the runoff election begins in earnest.

His largest challenge, however, may stem from the way he positioned himself before Tuesday’s election. The former Assembly speaker was arguably the most liberal candidate in the field for mayor. Although his record in state office was touched on before Tuesday, it will be far more publicly dissected between now and June 5.

Hahn fired the first shot in that direction Wednesday morning, when he said that Villaraigosa had voted against extending a law that the city attorney helped draft to control gang violence. Villaraigosa’s camp said they weren’t prepared to explain the candidate’s vote on the gang law. But they noted that he had strong support from law enforcement figures, including county Sheriff Lee Baca.

Villaraigosa could gain even more credibility on law enforcement issues--and moderate his image--if the city’s police union endorses him. Several board members have said they are leaning in that direction.

Hahn’s campaign will depict Villaraigosa as still largely unknown and untested and far too liberal for most voters who once were allied with the more conservative Soboroff and Wachs.

“They have no message except to say, ‘I’m a Democratic liberal,’ ” said Bill Carrick, one of Hahn’s strategists. “That’s a challenge for him to tell voters something else.”

Hahn Seen As Dependable Brand

The Hahn forces were slightly less euphoric on election night, but the city attorney also brings considerable strength to the runoff, most notably his family name and a history of winning five citywide elections, one as city controller and four as city attorney.

As a long-standing member of Los Angeles’ political leadership, Hahn will stress the stability he represents and work to make that link a plus, counteracting Villaraigosa’s appeal to those who yearn for a historic breakthrough.

“They talk about the old L.A. and the new L.A.,” said Cal State Fullerton political scientist Raphael Sonenshein. “It’s a good argument, but I’m not sure it’s true. People should never underestimate the strength of the old L.A. [Former City Councilman] Mike Woo talked about the new L.A. in 1993, and look what happened to him.”

The son of Kenneth Hahn still gets considerable mileage out of voters’ sense that he is a dependable political brand. His approval rating among voters Tuesday of 70% was about even with Villaraigosa’s 68%, despite his second-place finish. And Hahn placed slightly better with moderates and conservatives than Villaraigosa, making his appeal to Soboroff and Wachs voters more ideologically natural.

African Americans who have supported the Hahn family for decades came through again on Tuesday--delivering 70% of their votes for the city attorney, the largest single bloc vote of the contest. That base remains a solid starting place for Hahn in a runoff. And Hahn fared better than any other candidate among the most reliable group of voters, senior citizens.

“There is a comfort level with James Hahn,” said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political consultant.

Hahn’s consultants said his showing indicated that the candidate was “pinched” in the middle in Tuesday’s election, losing some votes to ideologically more conservative candidates like Wachs and Soboroff and some to more liberal candidates like Rep. Xavier Becerra. With those candidates out, they argued, Hahn has room to expand his support.

“Now we got more room to talk to Soboroff voters, to talk to Wachs voters,” Carrick said. “And we have common philosophy with them to a much larger degree than Villaraigosa does.”

Hahn had spent $4.1 million as of six days before election day, putting him at the top of the list. His potent fund-raising team seems prepared to deliver the maximum $1.76 million that both Hahn and Villaraigosa have agreed to cap their spending at in the runoff.

But Hahn, in particular, has a fund-raising challenge ahead: The city’s fund-raising law requires him to collect that sizable total in maximum increments of $1,000--a considerable task.

Unlike Villaraigosa, Hahn cannot count on the massive outside effort by the Democratic Party. The city attorney has his own group of loyal union activists, but they have so far been no match for the county federation juggernaut wielded on behalf of Villaraigosa.

Once positioned as the heir apparent to the mayor’s office--the inevitable candidate--Hahn must now create a new spark of interest and urgency about his campaign. Thus far, Hahn has failed to emerge from the long shadow of his father, despite his 20 years in public office and the months he spent on the campaign trail talking about his own programs.

Even before Tuesday’s vote, Villaraigosa had chided Hahn in remarks directed at voters: “I am not asking you to vote for me because of my father.”

Hahn needs to demonstrate he’s running for reasons other than to extend his family legacy, and already is trying to infuse his campaign with new passion.

“This runoff campaign is one I really look forward to,” he said. “I really enjoyed getting to know my neighbors all over the city.”

And he reiterated his oft-repeated interest in public service, but with a new anecdote that sought to attach a more passionate note to his work.

“As a young man in college, I never really planned on running for public office,” he said, until he volunteered at a legal clinic helping abused women. “It really opened me up to the possibilities of helping people through public service.”

* MORE ELECTION COVERAGE

Results of races for city attorney, city controller, City Council, Congress and school boards. B1, B4-B6