Cardenas to Face Greuel in Runoff

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas and entertainment industry executive Wendy Greuel will face each other in a March runoff after neither won a majority vote in Tuesday’s election for the 2nd District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

Needing more than 50% of the ballots cast to avoid a runoff, Cardenas won 47.61% of the votes Tuesday, compared with 42.72% for Greuel, with all precincts counted.

The third candidate, Van Nuys businessman James Cordaro, had 9.67% of the vote.

Cardenas said he had hoped to win outright but was prepared to campaign hard for the runoff.

“I am excited. I am excited for the voters,” Cardenas said after the final tally was announced at his election-night party at La Sirenita Restaurant in Panorama City.

The assemblyman said he felt he had the momentum going into the runoff. “I think things look very good,” he said, adding he will be “more aggressive” at touting his accomplishments in Sacramento.

“Now I’m going to be more aggressive to get my message out so I can go shake up City Hall and bring more resources to the Valley,” Cardenas said.

Greuel said she was not discouraged by her second-place finish and is still confident she can beat Cardenas in the March 5 runoff.

“I feel great about my showing tonight,” Greuel said, noting many people did not think she could do well against a seasoned politician who heads the Assembly budget committee. “I am ecstatic.”

The turnout was light, with 18.57% of district voters going to the polls.

Cardenas and Greuel fought an expensive and often bitter campaign for the east San Fernando Valley council seat vacated in October when Joel Wachs, who had held it for 30 years, quit after an unsuccessful run for mayor.

Together, Greuel and Cardenas were expected to have spent about $800,000 in the contest for the council seat, which pays a salary of $133,000. The district extends from Sunland-Tujunga through North Hollywood and Van Nuys to Studio City.

Greuel, a 40-year-old executive with DreamWorks SKG, benefited from Hollywood luminaries Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who sponsored a fund-raiser on her behalf. She amassed a larger campaign war chest than Cardenas, leading some to characterize the race as Hollywood versus Sacramento.

Cardenas, 38, was backed by powerful Council President Alex Padilla, part of a campaign to strengthen the council coalition that put Padilla in the president’s seat this year at age 28.

Having served five years in the Legislature, Cardenas is being forced out by term limits. He received campaign help in the form of ground troops after endorsements from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.

The campaign was also bitter, with Greuel the more aggressive when it came to attack mail. In one mailer, she contended that Cardenas “has accepted over $1 million in special interest money from gambling interests,” including a $100,000 check from a “gambling casino” the day he announced for the council seat. The check was actually received the day before his announcement.

The mailer failed to state that the contributions were made to Cardenas’ aborted campaign for secretary of state, not to his council campaign committee. The contributions were from Native American tribes grateful for his help in expanding gaming on tribal lands. Cardenas also returned the last check, which was from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Cardenas sought to counter the attack toward the end of the campaign by paying for a mailer from two tribal officials who praised him for his work helping Indians escape poverty.

The temperature of the race was further raised by an additional $90,000 in independent expenditures from billboard companies, unions, and other groups attempting to affect the outcome.

One group, calling itself Los Angeles Taxpayers for Good Government, sent out a last-minute hit piece against Cardenas that featured a photo of the Las Vegas Strip and implied that district neighborhoods could look like the gambling mecca if the assemblyman were elected.

Cardenas called the mailer “ridiculous nonsense,” noting there are no federally recognized tribal lands on which a casino could be built in the district.

Greuel, a Van Nuys resident, also criticized Cardenas for moving to Panorama City from Sylmar to run for the seat, for accepting contributions from “Sacramento interests” and for exploiting the World Trade Center tragedy with a mailer showing the site of the terrorist attack.

The mailer, showing the U.S. flag flying amid the rubble, was seen by many as an effective way of reminding voters that Cardenas had the endorsement of the unions representing Los Angeles police officers and firefighters.

Greuel received backing from eight council members, as well as from Wachs, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Central City Assn., Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters and Sheriff Lee Baca.

After working as an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley and as an official with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Greuel has most recently handled government and community affairs for the DreamWorks SKG entertainment company.

Cordaro, the only Republican in the race, owns All Phase Electrical Systems, an electrical contracting company in Van Nuys.

On the issues, Greuel, Cardenas and Cordaro agreed on the need to improve basic city services to the district, including an expansion of the city police force.

They did have some differences. On Valley secession, Cordaro was in favor, Cardenas was opposed, and Greuel said she wanted to see the outcome of studies before making up her mind but would prefer to keep the city together.

*

Claire Luna contributed to this report.