Political Candidates

Compton: City of PhDs That might be the unofficial campaign theme of Mayor Omar Bradley and his slate of candidates and elected supporters. Bradley, facing a June 5 runoff election, boasts of a doctoral degree. His chosen candidate in Compton's 2nd Council District, Compton College board member Melanie Andrews, refers to herself as Dr. Andrews in campaign materials.

Provincial council candidate Fareeq Khazaali moves through the crowds of shoppers on Mutanabi Street with the confidence and ease of a veteran politician, shaking hands and smiling, as his children, wearing homemade campaign T-shirts, distribute leaflets. When he's not pressing the flesh, he's sending frequent text messages ("Greetings. Please elect your candidate Fareeq Khazaali."

With a tacit acknowledgment of the political importance of her gender, Rep. Jane Harman opened her campaign for governor Friday by leaping aboard the bipartisan bandwagon seeking to improve California's faltering education system.

The state's political watchdog agency ruled Thursday that campaign limits do not apply to the candidates for a panel that could rewrite the city's 72-year-old charter, opening the door for massive contributions from wealthy politicians and unions.

Sally Alexander, 82, is up before it gets light. She always is, but this is going to be a particularly busy day. Let's see: Meet newspaper reporter at 7:15, then go meet President Clinton. Rendezvous with German TV news crew. Meet Associated Press photographer and pose for pictures. Address senior citizens. Start volunteers handing out leaflets in Huntington Harbour. Pose with Boogie board down by the pier.

As he was picketed by a gay rights group Saturday in Anaheim in the final days of his campaign for a state Senate seat, Assemblyman Gil Ferguson called the protesters "faggots" and later said he did not realize the word was derogatory. "I don't care about them," Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) told reporters at the event. "I'm a retired Marine. A couple of faggots out there aren't going to scare me." Ferguson made the comment at the Power Community Church where he was appearing with Rev. Louis B.

With an attack on the "mess in Washington," Democratic Senate candidate Dianne Feinstein portrayed herself Wednesday as a political outsider who embraces the usually Republican idea of a line-item veto for U.S. Presidents, coupled with a requirement that the chief executive submit a balanced budget each year.

The previously genteel tone of the race for mayor of Los Angeles turned tougher this week, as three of the top contenders suggested they would not appoint Police Chief Bernard C. Parks to a second term and most of the candidates began bashing apparent front-runner James K. Hahn. The new level of hostility came three days after a Times poll showed Parks badly lagging in the public's esteem and Hahn, the city attorney of Los Angeles, leading in the race for mayor.

Changing the fund-raising rules 3 1/2 weeks before the Jan. 22 election, a Superior Court judge Friday lifted campaign contribution limits for Los Angeles County's 1st Supervisorial District race, sending candidates scurrying to tap their supporters for bigger donations. The ruling by Judge John Zebrowski came in response to a suit brought by the county's biggest labor union, Service Employees International Union, which is backing Democratic state Sen. Art Torres.

District finances, student enrollment and outreach with other institutions are among the key issues in the April 13 election for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. The 16 challengers and two incumbents in contention for four open seats say there are serious problems confronting the district. The incumbents, Georgia Mercer and Julia Wu, say the district is on the road to recovery, however. "Our latest fiscal report shows there is an $11-million surplus," Wu said.