PADILLA DECLARES VICTORY; PACHECO, INCUMBENT HOLDEN PULL AHEAD IN RESPECTIVE RACES.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera and Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writers

Running far ahead in the vote tally, Alex Padilla declared victory over Corinne Sanchez in a runoff election Tuesday for the open 7th District Los Angeles City Council seat representing the northeast San Fernando Valley.

``It's a phenomenal victory tonight for the whole 7th district and it's really going to change the dynamic of the City Council,'' said Padilla's consultant Rick Taylor, from the victory celebration at a Sylmar restaurant where Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante made an appearance Tuesday night.

In the 14th District in East Los Angeles, Nick Pacheco held a slim lead over Victor Griego with most of the votes counted, while incumbent Nate Holden was leading in his bid for re-election against the Rev. Madison T. Shockley.

Padilla, a 26-year-old engineer who worked as a legislative aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, faced Sanchez, 52, an attorney who heads a community service agency.

The winner will become the second Latino candidate elected to the City Council from the Valley. The first, Richard Alarcon, won the council seat in 1993 and held it until his election to the state Senate last year. Tuesday's winner will serve out the remaining two years in Alarcon's unexpired term.

Padilla and Sanchez clashed over differences on charter reform, breakup of the school district, Valley secession and a moratorium on new apartment complexes in the district.

In recent weeks, the tension between the two candidates heightened. Padilla complained to a campaign oversight panel that Sanchez had made false claims about him in mailers sent to voters. Sanchez criticized Padilla's voting record when he was on the Building and Safety Commission from 1997 to 1998, saying he voted to give owners of nuisance properties extra time before cleaning up.

A victory by Padilla would make him one of the youngest candidates elected to the council. The record was set in 1953 by councilwoman Rosalind Weiner Wyman, elected at age 22. Zev Yaroslavsky, now a county supervisor, was elected to the Los Angeles City Council at the age of 26.

Padilla, who garnered nearly 48 percent of the vote in the April 13 primary, was endorsed by Cardenas, Mayor Richard Riordan, City Attorney James Hahn, the county Federation of Labor and the Democratic Party of the Valley.

After her second-place finish in the primary, with about 24 percent of the vote, Sanchez mounted an aggressive runoff campaign with endorsements from Alarcon, all five county supervisors, four council members and Sheriff Lee Baca.

Padilla, who grew up in Pacoima, is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former Hughes Aircraft engineer.

Sanchez, a Sylmar resident, has served as president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit El Proyecto del Barrio, an Arleta-based community services agency. Sanchez also practices family law.

In the 10th District, Holden's effort to win another term drew wide interest, not only because the populist councilman was forced into a runoff by Shockley, whose family long has been active in the community, but because of the actions of his colleagues.

Four City Council members - Mike Feuer, Jackie Goldberg, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters - endorsed Shockley over Holden in a rare breach of City Hall etiquette.

In the 14th District, Griego, a teacher and community organizer, and Pacheco, a deputy district attorney, were fighting to succeed Councilman Richard Alatorre, who retired.

The race sharply divided Latino leaders.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: Running for the 7th City Council District, Corinne Sanchez talks with a campaign worker in Pacoima on election night.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News