It must have seemed like a minor coup when Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss secured the backing of Sheriff Lee Baca, the county's top law enforcement officer, for his 2009 campaign for city attorney.
What Weiss did not know was that a year after he received the endorsement, Baca would urge another lawyer to enter the race: former Deputy Dist. Atty. Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich, an environmental lawyer whose resume presents him, in some ways, as the polar opposite of Weiss.
As Weiss was pushing for new gun regulations, Trutanich's firm represented more than a dozen gun rights groups and firearms manufacturers.
While Weiss has focused on the cleanup of the Santa Monica Bay, Trutanich has represented industrial companies, including San Pedro Boat Works, which was accused of allowing piles of paint residue to wash into Los Angeles Harbor.
The decision to back two opposing candidates is highly unusual, said Jaime Regalado, who runs the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles.
"Why endorse anybody if you're doing that?" he asked.
Baca saw nothing unusual in his actions, saying he favors both Weiss and Trutanich.
Yet Baca, who headlined a Trutanich fundraiser with Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley on Friday, praised the 54-year-old Trutanich for promising not to use the city attorney post as a political stepping stone.
Trutanich "will focus on his responsibilities as a city attorney and . . . not bring in political influences that distract the work of the office," Baca said.
Weiss would not comment Friday. But his campaign consultant, Larry Levine, voiced little surprise at the double endorsement. In a state Senate race in the San Fernando Valley, Baca endorsed both Levine's son, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), and his opponent, former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, a Democrat from Agoura Hills.
"I get the feeling that Lee will endorse anyone who walks in the door and smiles at him," the political consultant said.
So far, Trutanich and Weiss are the only lawyers who have filed paperwork to raise money for the city attorney's race.
Levine said Weiss is prepared to compare his record with Trutanich's.
As Weiss was pushing for more resources to help the Los Angeles Police Department investigate rape cases, Trutanich successfully defended several USC football players, including two who were under investigation for sexual assault. Neither was charged. Although Trutanich has yet to formally announce, Weiss, a former federal prosecutor, has collected $135,000 for his city attorney bid, a feat achieved despite having to raise other funds to thwart a noisy recall effort in his district.
