Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Campaign excitement grips Los Angeles mayoral race Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:07:21 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Campaign excitement grips Los Angeles mayoral race \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES (AP) - For people who already miss the 1992 presidential campaign, look no further than the Los Angeles mayoral race, featuring James Carville as a strategist and Jerry Brown as a wild card. Tom Bradley retires next year after 20 years as mayor. A stampede of political and business leaders have announced their candidacies for the April 1993 election or have filed papers to form a campaign organization. Right behind them is a pack of big-name, out-of-town hired campaign guns heading West to keep their political skills sharp during the election off-year and to pick up big paychecks. Despite the tough economic times, money will flow freely during this election. It'll cost a candidate $2 million just to be a serious player, and perhaps more if he or she wants to win, pundits say. "This is the biggest election I know of in 1993," said veteran Los Angeles political consultant Joe Cerrell. But much of the news from this big-stakes campaign to lead the nation's second-largest city out of its riot turmoil has centered not on the candidates, but on the supporting players. A case in point is Mr. Carville, the nation's hottest consultant who helped Bill Clinton get elected president after guiding Harris Wofford to an upset Senate victory over former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh in Pennsylvania. Mr. Carville got national attention when he signed on with Richard Katz, a Democratic state assemblyman from the San Fernando Valley who was considered a dark horse - until Mr. Carville came aboard. Another Clinton veteran, scheduler Jadine Nielsen, is working for businessman Richard Riordan, the Ross Perot of the mayoral race. Worth an estimated $100 million, Mr. Riordan is expected to spend considerably more than $2 million. And Robert Squire, who helped Ann Richards win the Texas governorship, is working for Michael Woo, a City Council member who garnered the national spotlight with his early criticism of former police Chief Daryl Gates after the Rodney King beating. Mr. Woo and Mr. Riordan are considered the two strongest candidates, and their chances got a boost last week when county Supervisor Gloria Molina, a fiery populist, decided against running. But the biggest wrinkle in the campaign is the noncandidacy of Mr. Brown, the former California governor who gave Mr. Clinton a run for his money before crashing in New York. Some of Mr. Brown's friends and political allies have urged him to run for mayor. Although the potential of a "Mayor Moonbeam" has caused some snickers, those who have followed Mr. Brown's career know better than to write him off. For his part, Mr. Brown is characteristically elusive. "Ask me in another month," he told the Los Angeles Times. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM