Signaling that they intend to fight for votes even on their rival's strongest turfs, Los Angeles mayoral candidates Antonio Villaraigosa and James K. Hahn both appealed for votes over the weekend in the communities where their opponents fared best in the campaign's first round.
Villaraigosa met with congregants at one of the city's largest and best-known African American churches Sunday and planned to step up his push for black voters this morning, with the announcement of more than 20 new endorsements from leaders, including City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. Those efforts come despite Hahn's overwhelming popularity among Los Angeles African Americans, both in polls and in the April election results.
Hahn, meanwhile, spoke to about 200 conservative Latino evangelicals at a downtown hotel Saturday, with several ministers saying they support the city attorney in the June 5 election. His campaign has said it will not cede Latino votes to Villaraigosa, who, if elected, would become the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since 1872.
Villaraigosa's news conference this morning is expected to draw an array of prominent black business, religious and political leaders and is intended to send the same signal to black voters--namely, that, in the words of Ridley-Thomas, "nobody gets the support of this community by default. You have to earn it."
Ridley-Thomas and others say they are prepared to mount a substantial phone, mail and door-to-door campaign to bolster the former Assembly speaker's showing among African American voters. Villaraigosa placed second in the April 10 election among blacks--but with just 12% support, he finished substantially behind Hahn, who received 71% support, according to a Times exit poll.
"Antonio Villaraigosa has demonstrated in a rather extraordinary way that he has the heart and the capacity to make a substantial difference in the city of Los Angeles," Ridley-Thomas said in endorsing Villaraigosa.
But Ridley-Thomas and the other African American leaders for Villaraigosa will have to contend with their community's long and enduring support for Hahn, who has won five terms as city controller and then city attorney. He has benefited enormously from a strong political brand name--established by his father, County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who served the area for four decades.
