If there was any doubt that allegations of corrupt contracting in City Hall would play a central role in the March mayoral election, it was probably erased in the campaign's opening debate Thursday.
Mayor James K. Hahn's four leading opponents mentioned "scandal," "special interests" and "contracts" more than 20 times during the 60-minute televised debate.
But against a mayor who diligently sticks to his message that he has reduced crime -- as Hahn did Thursday -- it remains unclear if the attacks will prove powerful enough to make Hahn the first incumbent Los Angeles mayor to lose in 32 years.
"It comes down to public safety versus the conflict-of-interest questions," said Raphael Sonenshein, a Cal State Fullerton political scientist who has written extensively about Los Angeles politics.
Debates alone rarely decide elections, and only about 229,000 households watched Thursday, according to KNBC-TV Channel 4.
And beyond labeling the mayor as corrupt, a successful challenger will probably have to provide a substantive alternative to Hahn's leadership.
Still, several political observers said that Thursday's debate vividly illustrated what will probably be the central dynamic of this mayoral campaign. And it provided some hints of how the five candidates may pursue their campaigns in the three months before the March 8 election.
Hahn, as he has been doing for months, took every opportunity Thursday to talk about dramatic drops in crime and the successful tenure of the popular police chief he appointed two years ago.
Hahn's opening statements Thursday focused on Chief William J. Bratton, whom Hahn labeled the "finest police professional in America."
Hahn linked education and the economy to public safety. And he repeatedly plugged his plan to raise taxes to expand the police force.
If Hahn can keep the focus on public safety throughout the campaign, he stands a better chance of winning reelection, Sonenshein and others said.
But the criminal probes into city contracting remain a wild card in the race.
Local and federal prosecutors have spent much of the past year looking into alleged links between campaign contributions and contracting decisions at the port, airport and Department of Water and Power.
And although it is unclear if or when there will be any criminal charges, authorities have pushed their investigations closer to the mayor, and several members of his administration have resigned.
