L.A. Voters to Cast Ballots in Primary Today

Los Angeles’ primary election campaign ends today with Mayor Tom Bradley putting hundreds of workers into the streets, trying to build a victory margin over Councilman John Ferraro big enough to retain his position as a potential 1986 Democratic nominee for governor.

While Bradley tried for a landslide and a history-making fourth term, candidates in another race--city attorney--fought until the end in a contest that remained in doubt.

City Controller James Kenneth Hahn, aiming for a victory in the primary, and Lisa Specht, an attorney, exchanged attacks on a radio talk show Monday and hoped their final television commercials would change some voters’ minds. Specht, trailing Hahn in the polls, hopes to force him into a runoff.

One other citywide race, controller, is on the ballot, along with eight City Council races--two of them strongly contested--and races for seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education and the Community College District Board of Trustees.

Forecast for Turnout

Los Angeles City Clerk Elias Martinez predicted that 35% to 40% of the voters would go to the polls during a day of voting that begins at 7 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m. There are 1.37 million voters in the city, plus 231,000 in school board and community college voting areas outside the city limits.

Turnout is all important for Bradley’s hopes for an overwhelming victory over Ferraro, one that will not only elect him in the primary but persuade Democratic party leaders that the mayor, who narrowly lost the governorship in 1982, is still strong enough to reclaim the nomination in the 1986 Democratic primary.

The governorship has been in the background throughout the race. Ferraro has charged that Bradley is more interested in running for governor next year than serving as mayor.

Bradley, trying to cool that attack, said “I am not planning to run for governor. I want to make that very clear. I want to be mayor of Los Angeles.”

But he has declined to rule out a try for a rematch against Republican Gov. George Deukmejian next year. And while his advisers are divided over whether he will run, all agree that he should finish this election so strong that anti-Bradley Democrats cannot force him out.

The threat of him being pushed aside was raised in February when Reps. Howard Berman (D-Studio City) and Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who head a powerful Democratic Westside political organization, signed on as members of a committee exploring the possibility of state Sen. Gary K. Hart of Santa Barbara for governor.

Questions Over Margins

One Democratic strategist not connected with the Bradley campaign predicted that Bradley would get 60% of the vote if the turnout goes above 35%. And if the turnout drops below that, he said, the Bradley margin should increase. That is because, he predicted, blacks and Jews traditionally turn out in large numbers when Bradley, who has drawn their support in the past, is on the ballot and will continue to do so even if the citywide vote is light.

But Ferraro’s campaign manager, Ron Smith, took an opposite view. He said that if the turnout drops to 25% or 30%, there will be a runoff. He said that was because Ferraro voters--more conservative, more white and more Republican--always show up at the polls and would be influential in a light turnout election. There are several minor candidates in the race.

Bradley campaign manager Mike Gage said there would be 150 Bradley campaign workers on phone banks and between 700 to 900 walking door-to-door to get out the Bradley vote today. They are concentrating their efforts in predominantly black South-Central Los Angeles, in parts of Ferraro’s mid-Wilshire district, on the Eastside and in the Hollywood area, where a hot battle for a City Council seat is expected to draw a strong turnout.

In addition, 168,000 mailgrams have been sent out to key Bradley areas urging a strong vote.

‘Hay in the Barn’

In contrast, Sande Conlan, Ferraro’s press secretary, said the councilman had just 10 workers on duty making phone calls.

“The hay is in the barn, we’ve done our job,” Ferraro told campaign workers at his San Fernando Valley headquarters.

Earlier Monday, Specht and Hahn exchanged words on KABC’s Michael Jackson show in their first appearance since the race was turned upside down by the dramatic withdrawal last week of candidates Murray Kane, Charles Zinger and Betsy Mogul in favor of Hahn.

Hahn charged that Specht is a tool of the Berman-Waxman political organization. “The machine is controlling this candidate, and the machine wants to take over City Hall,” he said.

“Outrageous,” replied Specht. “The reason you’re going down in the polls and I’m surging is that (voters) don’t want back-room deals cut between you and Murray Kane.”

For controller, Dan Shapiro led in the polls but apparently faces a runoff against either Rick Tuttle, Alice Travis or Celes King III.

The most most intense council race was in the 13th Hollywood area district, where incumbent Peggy Stevenson sought to avoid a runoff against Michael Woo, who lost to her four years ago. Another candidate drawing strong support was Michael Linfield.

Challenge for Picus

In the 3rd, West San Fernando Valley, district, Incumbent Joy Picus faced several challengers, but said she expects to avoid a runoff.

For Board of Education, voters are picking a replacement for Tom Bartman, who is retiring from his West San Fernando Valley seat, and two incumbents, Roberta Weintraub in the East Valley and Alan Gershman in West Los Angeles, are seeking re-election.

In the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees voting, incumbents Arthur Bronson, Wallace Albertson and Lindsay Conner are running districtwide for another term.