New Ads Launched in Race for Mayor

Former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and City Councilman Joel Wachs took their mayoral campaigns to the airwaves today, hoping television ads will help them break out of the pack of candidates jostling for supremacy in the April 10 election.

The commercials follow on the heels of a Times Poll published Sunday, which showed that City Atty. James K. Hahn has assumed a strong lead in the mayor’s race, garnering 24% of the support among likely voters. That was double that of any of his competitors bidding to replace Mayor Richard Riordan. Hahn and the other candidate who has been running television ads--businessman Steve Soboroff--scored well in the poll. Soboroff showed the most substantial gain in the survey: Barely registering in a Times poll a year ago, he climbed to 12%. That put him in a statistical tie behind Hahn with Villaraigosa, Wachs, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra and state Controller Kathleen Connell.

“I think it really means the election is fluid,” said political consultant Rick Taylor, who is not affiliated with a campaign. “It shows the power of TV, and it shows the power of money.”

With five weeks to go before the election, most of the campaigns echoed Taylor’s assessment, insisting that the early lineup reflects the impact of television ads and that they remain confident they can pull ahead.

“The only thing happening right now is that two candidates are on television, and the poll reflected that,” said John Shallman, a consultant for Connell, who got 8% in the poll. “In a moment, a candidate could jump from nowhere and other candidates could fall from the top.”

With the launch of their ads today, Villaraigosa and Wachs marked a definitive shift of the mayor’s race from the limited scope of neighborhood forums to the broad reach of television. Connell and Becerra also plan to start running ads in about a week, their backers said.

Villaraigosa’s 30-second commercial focuses on his record on education and endorsement from the teachers’ union. The campaign bought $400,000 worth of television time for the next week, and plans to stay on the air until election day, eventually rotating in at least three ads, said consultant Parke Skelton.

“We’re in second place without having spent a cent,” Skelton said. “We’re about to start spending substantial sums of money. Soboroff got a little bump. You’re about to see the Antonio bump.”

In the ad, titled “Education,” Villaraigosa is seen talking to a diverse group of students in a classroom. He tells viewers that he will build 100 new classrooms and audit the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“It’s time to start giving L.A.’s kids the opportunity they deserve,” Villaraigosa tells viewers. The ad ends with the words “Antonio Villaraigosa--Straight From the Heart of L.A.”

Wachs began running two 30-second ads today highlighting his reputation as an independent watchdog.

In one, titled “Stand Alone,” the longtime city councilman appears on the screen talking to seniors and walking in the Santa Monica Mountains. A female announcer says that Wachs “single-handedly stopped the tax giveaway to the owners of Staples Center.”

Throughout the campaign, Wachs has repeatedly touted his efforts to prevent the use of public money to finance the arena.

A second ad, called “Disaster,” shows Wachs lambasting the Belmont Learning Complex to a group of voters as “government at its worst.”

Both ads end with the tag: “Common Sense. Uncommon Courage. Joel Wachs for Mayor.”

Don Sipple, Wachs’ media consultant, would not reveal how much the campaign is spending on the commercials, except to call it a “substantial buy.” Like Villaraigosa, the city councilman will run ads until April 10.

Wachs had a surprising low showing in the Times poll, with 11%. After 30 years on the City Council, he had been expected by political veterans to rank higher.

Sipple attributed Wachs’ standing to “a lack of visibility,” and said the public has not yet focused on the mayor’s race.

“The more important thing that testifies to Joel’s standing is his high degree of favorability and high name ID,” Sipple said. “The job of the campaign is to translate that into votes.”

However, the Times poll showed that Soboroff has cut into Wachs’ base, winning the support of conservative Valley voters who otherwise would back the city councilman. The former Recreation and Parks commissioner was the first mayoral candidate to air ads, in late January.

“Polls are not where you are, but where you are headed,” said Ace Smith, Soboroff’s campaign manager. “We are headed in the right direction quickly.”

Although some of the campaigns disputed the findings of the poll, they all sought to put the best face on the results.

Paige Richardson, campaign manager for Rep. Xavier Becerra, said his 10% showing proved that he has a strong base of support, even though he has not yet spent money on television advertising.

Although the campaign plans a “targeted” television buy in the next week, Richardson said Becerra’s campaign would continue its grass-roots efforts, bolstered by 18 full-time organizers and 1,000 volunteers. Becerra will attend 60 community meetings during the last five weeks of the campaign, she said.

“I feel we’re the quintessential turtle in a race with a lot of hares,” Richardson said. “Nobody thinks we’re going to win, but everyday, we’re plugging away, we’re moving forward.”

Despite her name recognition as a state officeholder, Connell failed to win over the bulk of women, who were thought to be her strongest base of support.

But consultant Shallman insisted Connell--who entered the race last--would climb in the polls as more people learn about her. He pointed out that she was named as the second-choice candidate by the most voters.

“The race is wide open,” he said. “In the next weeks, five men will be vying to distinguish themselves against a very viable and vibrant woman candidate.”

The Hahn campaign, meanwhile, said the city attorney’s high showing motivated his supporters, but would not make them complacent about victory in the final weeks.

“I’m obviously pleased to be in that position,” Hahn said at a Granada Hills news conference. “That’s the result of a lot of hard work. . . . But I don’t take much stock in polls. I believe that the only poll that counts is on election day.”

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Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this story.