DOWN TO WIRE VOTERS SHOWING DISSATISFACTION WITH INCUMBENT HAHN FIGHTS FOR POLITICAL LIFE; VILLARAIGOSA COMES ON STRONG.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa grabbed a strong early lead Tuesday night over Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, who fought fiercely to overcome scandal in his administration and the challenger's fundraising advantage.

In an election with historic consequences for the city's growing Latino population, the embattled Hahn defined the central issue as public safety and attacked Villaraigosa as too liberal for the city.

Still, there was an air of jubilant expectation at the Villaraigosa campaign celebration as the early returns came in. The Hahn campaign saw a more subdued atmosphere for the man who has been elected six times to city offices but ran far behind in the primary and in more recent polls.

In a series of television interviews throughout the day, Hahn - who relentlessly attacked Villaraigosa - said he should have done more to explain to voters how he had reduced crime and provided municipal services.

``I should have spent more time bragging about what I was doing,'' Hahn said. ``In some ways, I was a victim of my own success. Every day, I got up and put my heart and passion into this job. I just didn't tell people about it.''

Villaraigosa campaign manager Ace Smith, however, said he believed the difference in the results compared with the rivals' runoff in 2001 was voter awareness.

``Four years ago, they didn't know Antonio Villaraigosa,'' Smith said. ``They know him better now and they know Jim Hahn, as well.''

A defeat of Hahn would mark the first rejection of an incumbent mayor since Sam Yorty was defeated by Tom Bradley in 1973.

A Villaraigosa victory would be the first election of a Latino mayor since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872.

The mayor will be sworn into office July 1.

For Villaraigosa, 52, the election was about vindicating his loss to Hahn four years ago and re-establishing his political stature.

The 2001 loss to Hahn was his first political setback after he rose rapidly in the state Assembly and, thanks to term limits, became Assembly speaker.

After leaving the Legislature in 2000, he worked briefly as a consultant but returned to politics in 2003, defeating Councilman Nick Pacheco for a seat on the council from the Eastside and establishing the base for this election.

Villaraigosa had told residents of his district - and Hahn, as well - that he would not run again for mayor. But, with Hahn facing political turmoil and other challengers, Villaraigosa entered the race and managed to skate through the primary election to finish first in the crowded field.

Hahn, 54, who has served as controller, city attorney and mayor, possesses one of the most popular names in Los Angeles political history thanks to the 40-year career of his father, the late Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

But his administration has been rocked with scandal and turmoil, much of it self-inflicted.

Hahn has acknowledged he did not handle some of his decisions well - such as the way he opposed a second term for then-Police Chief Bernard Parks.

While many gave him credit for leading the campaign against secession by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, his fundraising efforts triggered local and federal investigations into accusations of a ``pay-to-play'' operation in which companies felt they needed to make political contributions to win city business.

And the way he ran the campaign alienated many voters, particularly in the Valley.

Although there have been no direct accusations against Hahn, he was slow to react to the initial accusations - forwarded to county and federal prosecutors by Controller Laura Chick. While Hahn did call for reforms of the city's ethics laws, he never removed the individuals named in the inquiries, instead allowing them to resign.

And as the investigations broadened to include accusations of overbilling by the public-relations firm of Fleishman-Hillard, questions were raised about the political role of the firm with Hahn.

A former Fleishman vice president was indicted, and federal officials have told the court they expect to have at least one more indictment. The firm has agreed to repay the city a total of $5.9 million to settle a civil case filed against it.

Hahn did oversee a dramatic drop in crime citywide, an improving economy and funding for the neighborhood councils created by charter reform before he was elected mayor.

But Hahn's campaign focused on Villaraigosa's record rather than his own.

Among the former were the accusations Hahn raised four years ago regarding a letter Villaraigosa wrote to the White House urging presidential clemency for a convicted drug dealer, Carlos Vignali, who was the son of a campaign contributor.

Villaraigosa also gave the Hahn campaign some fodder when questions were raised over some Florida fundraisers and donations from two firms said to be interested in airport concessions.

Villaraigosa returned $47,000 in contributions as county District Attorney Steve Cooley took a rare step to announce that his office had opened a preliminary inquiry into the matter.

Hahn also attacked Villaraigosa for a vote he made on a bill 10 years ago regarding tougher penalties for second-degree murder cases involving the death of a child through abuse. Villaraigosa said he opposed the bill because he did not believe it went far enough.

The Villaraigosa campaign against Hahn, in addition to the attacks because of the investigations, focused primarily on Hahn's style of management.

During debates and on television commercials, Villaraigosa accused the mayor of being ``missing in action'' when it came to major policy issues such as transportation, the environment and education.

Education issues - even though the city and the mayor have no direct role with the Los Angeles Unified School District - became a dominant issue for a time in the runoff election, thanks to the attention former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg drew as a candidate in the primary election with his call to break up the nearly 750,000-student district, the nation's second largest.

Neither Hahn nor Villaraigosa would go that far, but both have embraced the Small Schools Initiative to create schools of no more than 500 students and changes to give the mayor either more control or complete authority over the district. Both plans would require voter approval.

Hahn barely made it into the runoff campaign due to Hertzberg's stronger-than-expected challenge, and the mayor was forced to take the initiative in the runoff campaign to make up ground.

Also, Hahn has been far behind Villaraigosa in fundraising, having raised about $1.2 million compared with $2.8 million by his challenger.

Hahn was able to make some inroads among those who had supported Villaraigosa four years ago - particularly with organized labor. But the death this month of Miguel Contreras, the powerful executive secretary- treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, put a question mark into that organization's overall effort on behalf of the mayor.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn has his ``I Voted'' sticker adjusted by his son, Jackson, after Hahn cast his ballot at Taper Street Elementary School in San Pedro on Tuesday.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer