"Xavier Becerra . . . in the News" reads a cheery handmade sign that hangs prominently over an assortment of newspaper clippings tacked to the wall in the congressman's mayoral campaign headquarters.
Conspicuously absent from the collection are the recent news stories about local politicians who took up the cause of a Los Angeles man convicted on drug charges.
These are not the stories that Becerra wants dominating the news just as the mayor's race is beginning to capture public attention.
Recent reports that he and mayoral opponent Antonio Villaraigosa, along with other area leaders, wrote letters on behalf of a drug trafficker whose sentence was commuted by former President Bill Clinton have sent both candidates scrambling to contain the damage.
For Becerra, the controversy has tested a campaign that many analysts say is struggling to keep up with those of the other top five mayoral hopefuls.
Carlos Vignali walked out of prison Jan. 20 after serving six years of a 15-year sentence for participating in a major cocaine ring.
Vignali's father, Horacio, a major political donor, persuaded various public figures--including Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, county Supervisor Gloria Molina, former Rep. Esteban Torres, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and state Sen. Richard Polanco--to write letters to the White House on his son's behalf.
Becerra, one of the last officials to add his voice to those seeking an evaluation of the younger Vignali's case, spent last week repeatedly defending his actions in newspaper, TV and radio interviews, worried that the perception that he had pulled strings for a donor could taint his clean-cut image.
Villaraigosa tried quickly to distance himself from the story, apologizing last week for writing a letter for Vignali in 1996.
But even as his campaign gained steam last week--winning the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the support of other key Democratic groups--he was forced to field questions about his involvement with the case.
The former Assembly speaker's relationship with Horacio Vignali could provide ammunition for his opponents if the race gets nasty, analysts said.
The candidates' actions also drew criticism from African American leaders and parents of drug offenders, who complained that the officials had done a favor for a well-connected donor.
