Monday April 9 7:57 PM ET
Los Angeles Mayor Race Turns Ugly Day Before Vote

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With only a day to go before voting, the Los Angeles mayor's race turned ugly on Monday with an out-of-town American Indian tribe trying to derail the leading Latino candidate, while a mystery group made automated anti-Semitic calls to harm a Jewish contender.

Outgoing Mayor Richard Riordan said he did not like what he had seen so far, declaring: ``This is not a very happy (time) for Angelenos. Over the last week we have seen the ugly side of
politics.''

The two-term mayor of America's second most populous city was especially incensed over a series of automated phone calls being made against Republican businessman Steve Soboroff, the candidate Riordan supports.

In the calls, made over the Jewish holiday of Passover, an unidentified man says: ``Hello, I am calling on behalf of the Steve Soboroff for Mayor campaign. ... Soboroff's polling numbers have been falling and we have become entirely dependent upon Jewish money.''

The mayor called the telephone message the work of ``vicious cowards.''

Soboroff is one of three candidates believed to be front-runners in the nonpartisan field of six. No one, however, is expected to win a majority in Tuesday's election and the two top candidates will have to square off in a runoff on June 5.

The other leading candidates in the polls are veteran city attorney James Hahn, whose father was a revered Los Angeles political figure, and former State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, who aims to become the city's first Latino mayor in modern times.

Opposed By Indian Group

Villaraigosa's efforts are being hampered by a series of outspoken radio ads paid for by the Morongo Indian tribe, which operates a major casino east of the city.

The ads accuse him of intervening to get a crack dealer, later pardoned by President Bill Clinton, freed from prison because his father was a political contributor. The ad also says Villaraigosa voted for the state's botched electricity deregulation plan.

The ad, played on some of the city's most popular radio stations, urges voters to vote for anyone but Villaraigosa.

A spokeswoman for the tribe was not immediately available for comment on why the group had launched such a negative campaign against the candidate.

A spokeswoman for the candidate said that it might be because a major political figure allied with the tribe was a key supporter of Hahn. Hahn has denied anything to do with the attack ads. The Villaraigosa side said its candidate appeared to be rising in the polls over the weekend -- possibly as a backlash against the negative ads.

No Clear Majority

The election comes as new U.S. Census data confirmed what anyone living in Los Angeles already knew -- that whites no longer enjoyed a majority in the city and neither did any other racial or ethnic group, although Latinos came close.

The lineup of mayoral hopefuls reflects the diversity of the so-called ``city of the 21st century'' -- a sprawling conglomeration where more than 30 languages are heard on the streets and where some people live in homes with five bathrooms, while many more squeeze five to a single room.

Latest data from the U.S. Census showed that Latinos had become the largest single ethnic group in Los Angeles city, representing 46 percent of the 3.7 million residents. Whites made up 30 percent, blacks 11 percent and Asians 10 percent.

If the city elects the first Latino to become mayor since Cristobal Aguilar left office back in 1872, that man will likely be Villaraigosa, who holds 20 percent of the vote, to 24 percent for Hahn and 18 for Soboroff, according to a Los Angeles Times poll published last week.

Villaraigosa, 48, appeals to liberal Democrats and has widened his Latino base by securing the backing of organized labor and, despite running against two Jewish candidates (Soboroff and Councilman Joel Wachs), has the biggest percentage of Jewish voter support, a key voting group in the city.

Hahn, 50, who is white, has solid backing from black voters who have fond memories of his late father, Kenneth, who represented the area as county supervisor for 40 years. About 83 percent of Soboroff's support comes from whites, in the affluent Westside neighborhood and conservative San Fernando Valley.

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