In a blow to Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn's reelection effort, the county Democratic Party threw its support behind his rival Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday night, offering a major boost to the city councilman's campaign.
The party's endorsement in the officially nonpartisan race amounted to an extraordinary vote of no confidence in a Democratic incumbent who runs the nation's second-largest city. The move could produce a windfall of party money to help the challenger unseat Hahn. It also carries symbolic value for Villaraigosa in a city in which roughly two out of three voters are Democrats.
"This was a vote for hope and the kind of leadership that we need to get Los Angeles moving again," said Villaraigosa, who won by a 116-72 margin.
Hahn said that his endorsement by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor would offset the Democratic Party nod to his opponent.
"Mr. Villaraigosa has built up some strong relationships" in the Democratic Party, Hahn said.
The party's move capped a day of campaigning by Hahn and Villaraigosa in the San Fernando Valley, a crucial battleground in the May 17 mayoral runoff.
In their continuing contest over which candidate can line up the most prominent Valley supporters, Villaraigosa scored endorsements Tuesday from former mayoral candidate Richard Alarcon of Sun Valley and Sherman Oaks congressman Brad Sherman, both Democrats. He also had lunch with the third-place finisher in the March 8 mayoral election, Sherman Oaks attorney Bob Hertzberg. For his part, Hahn appeared at a Valley car dealership to pick up the support of former City Councilman Hal Bernson of Granada Hills.
But the main campaign development Tuesday was the vote by the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee at a teachers union hall in the mid-Wilshire district.
Hahn and Villaraigosa each made personal appearances in the union hall to plead for support. Both portrayed themselves as champions of working people of every race and ethnicity.
In a feisty speech, the normally mild-mannered Hahn shouted, "I've been there for working families!" Repeatedly interrupted by union supporters clapping and chanting "Four more years!"
Hahn added: "I am about the diversity of this party, the diversity of this city."
Villaraigosa, whose backers yelled "Si se puede" -- "Yes we can" -- described himself as the best candidate for "black Los Angeles, brown Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, and white and yellow Los Angeles."
