5 DEMOCRATS SEEK 39TH ASSEMBLY SEAT\Field reflects district makeup of 62% Latinos.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

This year's hottest primary contest in the San Fernando Valley is the Democratic race for the 39th Assembly District, where five candidates are battling to succeed veteran Assemblyman Richard Katz.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon and members of the state Legislature's Latino caucus have thrown their support behind political newcomer Tony Cardenas, a real estate broker from Sylmar.

He is facing intraparty competition from legislative aides Jim Dantona and Michael Del Rio, as well as Valerie Salkin, a deputy legal counsel to the state Board of Equalization, and longtime Valley activist Jose Galvan.

The winner of the Democratic primary March 26 will face businessman Ollie McCaulley, the lone Republican candidate, in the November general election.

Political analysts have said the race is noteworthy, in part, because the coming term-limit retirement of Katz, D-Panorama City, has created the best chance this year for the election of a Latino legislator from the Valley.

Latinos make up 62 percent of the district's population, though only 25 percent are registered to vote, the latest census figures show. Three of the five Democrats in the race - Cardenas, Del Rio and Galvan - are Latino.

On the issues, all the candidates agreed in interviews last week that economic development, job creation and crime reduction rank among their top concerns.

A critical local issue is a proposal to build a 132-mile oil pipeline that would slice through the Northeast Valley. The positions of the candidates on the pipeline are mixed, with Cardenas, Del Rio and Galvan opposed to it, and Dantona and Salkin generally supportive of the plan.

Much of the debate in the race has been over which candidates have the strongest ties to the Northeast Valley district and would be least influenced by outside political connections and money.

Here is a look at each of the Democratic candidates:

Tony Cardenas, 32, of Sylmar. The owner of Metro Realty and Escrow in Mission Hills, Cardenas worked briefly as an engineer before going into the real estate business. Born and raised in Pacoima, Cardenas was named by Mayor Richard Riordan to the Los Angeles Business Advisory Committee.

Married with three children, Cardenas cites economic development and jobs as his No. 1 concerns, followed by education and public safety.

On crime, Cardenas advocates expansion of boot camp programs for juvenile offenders and stiffer penalties for crimes committed with a firearm. He opposes the Pacific Pipeline project. He favors legal access to abortion.

Key endorsements include the 14-member Latino Legislative Caucus in Sacramento, the San Fernando Valley Mexican-American Political Association and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon.

Records show Cardenas has raised nearly $42,000 (including $1,700 in loans) with just over $6,000 cash on hand as of Jan. 1. He says he has raised more, including $10,000 each from the California Association of Realtors Political Action Committee and the Latino PAC.

Jim Dantona, 47, of Sylmar is a veteran legislative aide and campaign consultant who served as a senior staffer to former state Sen. David Roberti and also to Lt. Gov. Gray Davis when Davis was state controller.

Dantona was born in Chicago but has lived in the Valley since 1954. He has lived in Sylmar since June 1994. He is a divorced single parent of three children.

A former Major League free agent who trained with the Chicago Cubs, he founded the youth group Baseballers Against Drugs in 1989. He also coached sports in the community and taught school for four years.

He advocates mandatory sentences for violent crimes and abolition of early releases from prison. He also favors expansion of boot camps and construction of more prisons.

On economic development, he calls for streamlining government agencies and regulations.

Key endorsements include the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the Rev. Zedar Broadous, president of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Dantona led the field in campaign contributions as of Jan. 1, reporting more than $177,000 in donations, including $74,000 in loans.

His single biggest contribution listed was $5,000 from Browning-Ferris Industries, owner of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill north of Granada Hills.

Michael Del Rio, 30, of North Hills is a former general contractor and investment banker who is on a leave of absence as an aide to state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Los Angeles.

A native of West Los Angeles, he has lived in the San Fernando Valley since the age of 17 and has lived in what is now the 39th District for nine of those years. He is single.

He cites economic development and job creation as his top priorities. He has called for expansion of state tax incentives, revitalization zones and formulation of an economic recovery plan to attract new high-tech industries to the area.

He also favors establishment of a state earned-income tax credit for the middle class that would amount to a 13 percent tax cut for individuals earning $60,000 or less or families with a combined income of $100,000 or less.

In addition, he favors breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Del Rio said he is not seeking political endorsements. He has not yet filed any campaign finance reports but says he has raised less than $10,000.

Jose Galvan, 53, of Sylmar is a librarian for the city of Los Angeles.

As a longtime political activist, he helped form the Valley chapter of the Mexican-American Political Association in 1994. Since 1979 he was sought political office five times without success - twice for the LAUSD Board of Education, once for City Council, once for the Board of Supervisors and in 1994 for Congress against Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills.

The son of migrant farm workers, Galvan was born in San Antonio, Texas. He settled in California in 1965 and moved to the Northeast Valley in 1976 where he lives with his wife and three sons.

Galvan served four years in the Navy, including two tours of duty on an aircraft carrier off the coast of North Vietnam in the 1960s.

He says crime prevention is his top priority, and that he favors more police on the streets and in the community.

He opposes the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District but favors expansion of the magnet school and charter school programs.

Galvan boasts no political endorsements and says he has generated only about $1,000 for his campaign so far but intends to raise more.

Valerie Salkin, 29, of Panorama City is a deputy legal counsel for the state Board of Equalization who moved to the Northeast Valley about a year ago.

Salkin, who is single, cites economic development and jobs as her top priorities. She advocates overhauling the municipal finance system to provide cities with greater incentives for attracting and keeping businesses that create high-wage jobs.

The victim of a random shooting at age 14, Salkin said she would advocate tougher gun control, including a ban on the sale of firearms to people with restraining orders against them.

Key endorsements include the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, the National Women's Political Caucus and former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

Records show Salkin has raised $169,000, including a $60,000 loan to herself and a $10,000 contribution from her father. Other contributions came from individuals.

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(1) Tony Cardenas (2) Jim Dantona (3) Michael Del Rio (4) Valerie Salkin (5) Jose Galvan