Precinct Walkers Hit Streets in Effort to Persuade Voters to Vote for Villaraigosa

In one of the first significant deployments of ground troops in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, hundreds of union members and Democratic Party volunteers hit the streets Saturday, kicking off a massive door-to-door effort to elect former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa.

Fueled by coffee and chants of “Si se puede!” the volunteers fanned out across the Eastside and the San Fernando Valley. Their goal: to turn out at least 50,000 voters for Villaraigosa.

The precinct walking in Latino neighborhoods and elsewhere will continue every day until the April 10 election. It is being bolstered by a phone bank operation and a flurry of mailers that will target voters in the last days before the election.

The all-out effort for Villaraigosa is the payoff for winning the sought-after endorsements of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the Democratic Party, organizations that are combining their financial resources and manpower to win him votes.

Labor’s ability to deliver, however, remains unproved. Local unions have delivered important support for local candidates in recent elections, but have yet to show that they can win a citywide race.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be a very competitive race on the airwaves,” said federation head Miguel Contreras. “What’s going to make the difference for Antonio is the people power.”

Under the direction of the federation, the labor unions are focusing their efforts on likely union voters in the Valley and the Westside, a $1-million push that will involve visits to about 70,000 homes, phone calls to about 250,000, and six to eight mailers during the next three weeks, Contreras said.

The state Democratic Party, meanwhile, has hired veteran union organizers to target Latino Democratic voters on the Eastside and in the Valley, hoping to have hundreds of volunteers on the streets daily in places like Highland Park, Pico-Union and Pacoima.

The drive to win over Latino voters highlights Villaraigosa’s need to secure a voting base in that community, even as he has tried to create a multiethnic coalition of support. So far, Villaraigosa is still trying to demonstrate that he can pull that off. A recent Times poll showed that Villaraigosa won the support of about 19% of Latino voters--the same percentage that favored City Atty. James K. Hahn. But 30% of Latinos surveyed said they would vote for U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra.

Labor’s outreach to its members will test the clout of the unions, which have stacked up numerous legislative victories in recent years. The union activists hired by the Democratic Party cut their teeth working on successful campaigns for Gov. Gray Davis, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills), Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte) and, most recently, Assemblywoman Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles).

“Every election we get stronger and bigger and more creative,” said Mike Garcia, head of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, which represents janitors.

Earlier in the year, Hahn fought to win the endorsement of the federation, an umbrella organization that represents 800,000 workers--175,000 of them registered voters in Los Angeles. Villaraigosa won the group’s backing by one vote.

But last week Hahn consultant Kam Kuwata downplayed the effect the union volunteers would have for Villaraigosa, saying many unions are still supporting the city attorney.

“Labor is divided,” he said.

On Saturday morning, in a small union hall just west of downtown, organizers huddled over photocopies of maps shaded with various colors and sorted through lists of voters.

Contreras addressed about 100 cooks, dishwashers and maids who sipped coffee as they awaited instructions. “Every army has its special troops,” he said. “That’s why you’re here today. Are you ready to rock?”

The workers stood up, cheering and applauding.

Gregoria Garcia, 54, who works as a cook at the Beverly Hilton, said she learned about Villaraigosa when he joined a hunger strike at USC in 1999 to help win job security for cafeteria workers and janitors.

“I tell people that he has always been there for us,” said Garcia, who immigrated from Mexico 29 years ago.

Villaraigosa has painted himself as a coalition builder, one who rejects being characterized as an ethnic politician, but Saturday’s effort kicked off an appeal targeted at Latinos.

“How many of you are immigrants?” organizer Austin Lynch asked volunteers before they set out Saturday morning. Almost all of them raised their hands. “Share your experience as an immigrant of why Antonio Villaraigosa will be good for us.”

By midday, Garcia and two other volunteers walked the hilly streets of Highland Park, dodging barking dogs and banging on doors. Their goal was to reach 100 homes in four hours.

Said Jose Barcenas, 33, who drives an airline catering truck at Los Angeles International Airport: “We know in the end that if we get Antonio Villaraigosa as our mayor, we will have better jobs and more employment for Latinos.”

At one home on Avenue 40, the volunteers lobbied Elizabeth Diaz--in Spanish and English--to vote for Villaraigosa.

Diaz, 26, said she didn’t know there was a mayor’s race coming up, much less that Villaraigosa was one of the candidates.

“Did you know that he grew up in East L.A., with a single mother?” asked union organizer Paula Barragan Ortega. “He has always helped us working people.”

That was enough for Diaz. She said she and her husband would support Villaraigosa. Barcenas marked them down as “yes” votes and moved on to the next house.