Double De La Torres

When South Gate voters go to the polls next month, they will get a choice of voting for Hector De La Torre or Hector De La Torre. Or both, or neither.

And you thought the Florida presidential election was confusing.

The first two candidates listed on the ballot for two City Council seats are both named Hector De La Torre. No middle initials. On top of that, they have similar-sounding designations: One candidate is described as a counselor, the other as a council member.

In the annals of Southern California politics, there have been a few races with similarly named candidates. But Los Angeles County election officials said they can’t recall a race in which two candidates vying for the same post had identical names and similar-sounding occupations.

“Usually, we at least have a middle name or initial that distinguishes the candidates,” said county elections spokeswoman Kathy Tacawy.

Political consultants expect chaos.

“A nightmare” was the prediction veteran political consultant Rick Taylor made for the March 6 election. “It’s almost unfair to the public.”

The ballot confusion is the latest political tangle for the blue-collar community of about 93,000 residents in southeast Los Angeles County. Last year, someone shot and wounded the then-64-year-old mayor in what many believe was an assassination attempt. Just last month, the council put the city manager on administrative leave and then obtained a restraining order to bar him from returning to City Hall.

South Gate’s Chamber of Commerce director, Ted Chandler, predicts more controversy in the upcoming election.

“I’m from Florida, so it really hits home,” he said, referring to the recent presidential ballot dispute in his home state that was ultimately settled in the U.S. Supreme Court.

In hopes of reducing the confusion, the South Gate ballots will contain the following notice: “Warning: There are two candidates for this office with identical names.”

Councilman De La Torre says the ballot confusion is no accident. He charges that his political enemies encouraged the other De La Torre--a political unknown--to run for office to create confusion and scuttle the councilman’s candidacy.

“It’s clear to me that this stuff is being done behind closed doors,” the councilman said.

But the other De La Torre, the challenger, rejects such charges, saying he entered the race on his own because he wants to help keep young people out of gangs.

However, the challenger concedes that he is not a counselor and has never worked as a counselor. He is a foreman at a printing business in Los Angeles.

He said he described himself on his nomination papers as a “counselor/foreman” because his friends and family members often seek his counsel.

The South Gate city clerk’s office removed the “foreman” designation from the ballot when another candidate questioned whether the challenger really is a foreman.

Both De La Torres could win because they are among 10 candidates vying for two at-large council seats. If that happens, imagine the confusion at City Hall.

Occupational designations for California candidates seeking local, state and federal offices were first allowed in 1932 because of a problem of same-name candidates. Two years earlier, four men named Hopkins ran for Los Angeles County assessor. Also, incumbent state Treasurer Charles G. “Gus” Johnson faced Augustus J. Johnson as an opponent.

More recently, Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Dennis L. Stout faced a challenge in 1990 from a businessman named Dennis Stout. A third candidate, Fran Manzano, campaigned under the slogan: “One Small Woman Against Two Stout Men.” Nonetheless, the incumbent mayor won by nearly 8,500 votes and went on to be elected San Bernardino County district attorney.

Then there was Kenneth P. Hahn, who first won the post of Los Angeles County assessor in 1990, many believe, because of his name’s similarity to that of Kenneth F. Hahn, a popular former county supervisor.

Two Candidates Have Never Met

In South Gate, the two Hectors have never met, even though both grew up in the city and are only one year apart in age. But each has heard of the other.

When he volunteered to coach youth basketball at a city park several years ago, the councilman, who is 33, found that the man who would become his challenger, who is 34, had already been a coach.

When the councilman was first elected in 1997, the foreman said, many of the foreman’s friends congratulated him, mistakenly thinking he had won the post.

That is when the foreman first got the idea to run for office.

“I know that I can make a difference if I’m elected,” the challenger said.

The councilman works full time as a communications manager for Southern California Edison. The foreman previously worked as a teacher’s aide in South-Central Los Angeles.

The foreman is a registered Republican; the councilman is a Democrat.

The other eight candidates are Bill De Witt, a businessman; Carlos Dillon, a transportation engineer; Raul Moriel, a council member; Noemi Garcia-Gonzalez, a businesswoman; Katrina Jackson, a businesswoman; Mary Johnson, a community liaison; Pat Acosta, a businesswoman; and Richard Avalos Mayor, a businessman/administrator.

South Gate Councilman De La Torre said he has repeatedly urged the city clerk’s office to change his designation to “incumbent” or to change the challenger’s to “foreman” to minimize the confusion. Those requests have been to no avail.

“Voters are going to see counselor and city councilman and be confused,” he said, adding that many South Gate residents are Spanish-speaking and may not understand the difference.

He alleges that the brains behind what he says is a scheme to confuse voters is his longtime political nemesis, Treasurer Albert Robles.

Robles shrugs off the charge, and insists that voters will not be confused.

“I think [Councilman] De La Torre is presuming that the people in South Gate are not as sophisticated as he thinks he is,” Robles said.

Robles himself is often confused with a younger man named Albert Robles who represents parts of Southeast Los Angeles County on the board of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.

To avoid confusion, locals refer to the older Robles as “Big Albert” and the younger as “Little Albert.”