GODINEZ SAYS HE'LL PRESS AHEAD IN RACE.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

After campaigning furiously to win state Sen. Richard Alarcon's support for the Los Angeles City Council race, candidates Raul Godinez and Alejandro Padilla were dealt a hard blow Friday when he endorsed a formidable opponent.

Godinez, a former San Fernando mayor and civil engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, said he is disappointed with the decision to endorse Corinne Sanchez, president of a community service organization.

But Godinez said he will forge ahead in a race that he still considers wide open, and he plans to officially announce his candidacy within weeks.

``It wasn't a matter of `I'll get into this race if Richard Alarcon endorses me','' he said.

Godinez stepped down as San Fernando mayor and City Council member in order to pursue the 7th District seat in Los Angeles.

``Endorsements are helpful, but they're not necessarily what win elections,'' Godinez said. ``You see time and time again where people give endorsements and the voters choose somebody totally different.''

Padilla, a political aide, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The endorsement is Alarcon's third in this race, having first supported the now-aborted candidacy of Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, and then the candidacy of his wife, Corina Alarcon, an insurance business owner, who stepped out of the race recently for professional and personal reasons.

After his wife dropped out, Alarcon narrowed the list of possible endorsees to three, including Sanchez, 51, Godinez, 36, and Padilla, 25.

Others who have declared themselves as candidates for the 7th District seat are:

Ross Banales Diaz, 30, a Los Angeles County social worker and a resident of Sylmar;

Antonio M. Lopez, 32, district director of the Los Angeles Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and a Mission Hills resident;

Ollie McCaulley, 42, governmental relations director for the Community Partnership Development Corp., an affordable-housing company in Sun Valley, and a Van Nuys resident;

Barbara Perkins, 40, special assistant to Mission Community College President William Norlund and a Sylmar resident.

Connie Rodriguez, 51, a teacher at Pacific Oaks College Job Training Program in Pasadena and an Arleta resident.

Godinez acknowledged that Alarcon's endorsement strengthened Sanchez's bid, but said he still feels the opportunity is there for him to win.

``There are certain things you have to have to be a viable candidate, including a credible message that resonates with the voters and money that allows you to do that and that's what we are focusing on,'' said Godinez.

Alarcon said the decision was tough to make, considering he personally knows many of the candidates, but that ultimately his task was to select the person who had the most experience working in the community.