Leaders of Los Angeles County's organized labor announced Tuesday that they will throw their political heft behind state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas in the race for county supervisor, publicly kick-starting what promises to be the most intensely contested county board election in 16 years.
The endorsement by the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor provides the liberal Ridley-Thomas a valuable boost in his campaign against the more conservative Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, viewed by many as an early -- if slight -- front-runner in the race to succeed retiring Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke.
Parks picked up an important ally Tuesday, when Supervisor Gloria Molina said she is supporting him, in large part because of his fiscal conservatism.
Nonetheless, the federation's financial support and its army of campaign volunteers have been key in several elections in recent years. And with the liberal-leaning majority on the five-member Board of Supervisors hanging in the balance, union officials have vowed to make Ridley-Thomas' election their top priority of 2008.
"We know that the heart and soul of thousands of workers marching through the streets, walking home-to-home in precincts, calling on the phones, taking our issues to the voters -- that is what will count in this election," Maria Elena Durazo, the federation's executive secretary-treasurer, said on the steps of the county's downtown administration building.
Durazo described Ridley-Thomas as a friend of labor and criticized Parks for opposing last year's City Council vote on a living-wage law.
"We cannot afford to have someone who is going to lean more often than not in the opposite direction of what our needs are in the community," she said.
So far, the two elected officials are the only major candidates in the race, but the filing period does not close until March 7. If no one wins a majority of votes in the June 3 balloting, there will be a runoff in November.
Besides backing from Molina -- generally part of the board's liberal majority and its only Latina -- Parks already had secured endorsements from some of the district's best-known political leaders. They include Councilman Herb Wesson, a former Assembly speaker who once served as Burke's chief deputy, and Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose father, Kenneth, held the seat for 40 years.
On Tuesday, Molina said she shares Parks' views on law enforcement issues and his approach to employee pay and other labor issues.
