Los Angeles City Council District 7

State Sen. Richard Alarcon said Tuesday that he was "seriously looking" at running next year for the City Council 7th District seat he held from 1993 to 1999. Alarcon was elected Nov. 7 to the state Assembly but said he was surprised when voters relaxed term limits for the council, which would enable him to return. Alarcon also said that he moved last week into the 7th District.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon affirmed Tuesday that he planned to run for the City Council's 7th District and had formed a committee to raise funds for the campaign. Alarcon was elected to the Assembly this month and will be sworn in next month. He said he planned to serve in the Assembly while running for his old City Council seat that is being vacated next month by Alex Padilla.

As election contests erupt from one end of Los Angeles to the other, the northeast San Fernando Valley is an island of political calm. That's because Councilman Alex Padilla, the city's youngest lawmaker, is the only council member facing no opponent in the current campaigns. Once derided as too inexperienced for the job, the 27-year-old Padilla has emerged as a forceful leader in the working-class 7th District.

Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla has filed papers to run for reelection to the 7th District seat. Padilla was first elected to the council in June 1999, campaigning with the strong support of labor unions and Mayor Richard Riordan. At 26, Padilla was the third youngest person elected to the Los Angeles City Council. He filled the remaining two years of the unexpired term left by Richard Alarcon, who had moved from the 7th District council seat to the state Senate in December 1998.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas said Thursday that he will not run for the Los Angeles City Council seat soon to be vacated by Richard Alarcon, who has been elected to the state Senate. "It looks like I will stay in Sacramento, barring any outrageous events," Cardenas (D-Sylmar) said in a phone interview. Cardenas' decision leaves the field open to a bevy of possible candidates to run for the 7th District seat.

State Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) said Thursday that he will not run for the District 7 City Council seat soon to be vacated by Richard Alarcon, who has been elected to the state Senate. "It looks like I will stay in Sacramento, barring any outrageous events," Cardenas said in a phone interview. His decision leaves the field open to several possible candidates.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon endorsed Corinne Sanchez on Friday to succeed him on the Los Angeles City Council, placing the attorney and social service provider at the front of the race this spring to represent the northeast San Fernando Valley.

Former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II, teacher Connie Rodriguez and youth services director Tony Lopez on Thursday became the latest candidates to file papers to run for the 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, increasing to six the number of contestants who have turned in declarations to the city clerk.

Legislative aide Alex Padilla and pastor Dudley Chatman filed papers Friday to run for the 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, increasing the field of potential candidates who have filed declarations to eight. The deadline for filing declarations of intention to run is Tuesday. The council seat on the April 13 ballot was vacated last month by Richard Alarcon, who won election to state Senate.

Top officials of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor have recommended endorsing Alex Padilla in the race for the 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, officials announced Thursday. If the federation's delegates vote Monday to ratify the recommendation of the 90-member executive board of the Council on Political Education, which observers say is likely, it will be a major boost to Padilla's campaign in the largely working-class district.