SOBOROFF NARROWLY TOOK VALLEY VOTE AREA CRUCIAL TO VICTORY IN JUNE REMATCH.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Businessman Steve Soboroff narrowly won the most votes in the mayoral primary over Antonio Villaraigosa in four City Council districts wholly within the San Fernando Valley, electoral returns showed Wednesday.

Soboroff, Mayor Richard Riordan's choice for mayor, got 27.6 percent of the Valley en route to a 21 percent vote showing citywide.

Villaraigosa - the overall leader in Tuesday's primary with 30 percent of the vote - was close behind Soboroff in the Valley with 26.2 percent of the votes cast.

City Attorney James Hahn, who will face Villaraigosa in a June 5 runoff, ran third in the Valley with 16.9 percent, sharply lower than his overall 25 percent vote total.

The Valley's favorite son, Councilman Joel Wachs, ran a disappointing fourth with 15.2 percent of the Valley vote and 11 percent citywide.

Political experts said the moderate-to-conservative Valley voters who backed Soboroff and Wachs likely will determine who the next mayor is.

``The Valley vote is going to be extraordinarily important, especially for those who voted for someone besides Hahn or Villaraigosa,'' said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political consultant.

``It's going to be so important that two precincts in the Valley could decide who wins.''

Soboroff's strength was in the West Valley, while Villaraigosa outdistanced other candidates by more than a 3-to-1 margin in the predominantly Latino Northeast Valley.

Villaraigosa said Wednesday that he's making the Valley ``ground zero'' for the remainder of the race.

``It's where I'm launching my campaign and where I expect to spend most of my time,'' Villaraigosa said, noting his headquarters is in Van Nuys.

Hahn also called the Valley ``the key battleground in this election.''

``Clearly, a lot of people voted for candidates other than Antonio or myself, and where those votes go will determine who the next mayor is,'' said Hahn, whose campaign headquarters is in Tarzana.

In the city attorney's race, Deputy Mayor Rocky Delgadillo and Councilman Michael Feuer ran a virtual dead heat in the Valley, each getting just under one-third of the vote.

Both said they would concentrate their efforts in the Valley, as well.

In the mayor's race, Soboroff, who got 37,450 votes in the Valley council districts, has not decided whether he'll endorse a mayoral candidate in the June election, said Ace Smith, his campaign chairman.

It also was unclear whether Wachs would throw his support to either Villaraigosa or Hahn.

``It will be very interesting to see what Soboroff and Riordan do, because that could determine what Republicans do,'' Hoffenblum said.

Riordan, who backed Soboroff, said he hasn't decided who he'll support in the runoff, though he agreed the race will ``absolutely'' come down to the Valley.

``I want to look at it; it's a very complicated issue since the best person (Soboroff) isn't in the race,'' Riordan said. ``It could take me a a while to determine who will be best for the city.''

The core of Soboroff's support was in the Northwest Valley, represented by Councilman Hal Bernson, where his vote count nearly doubled that of either Hahn or Villaraigosa.

The Northwest Valley also had the highest voter turnout - 33.66 percent - of any council district in the city, holding to past trends.

The western part of the Valley has no strong regional or political loyalties to either of the remaining candidates - though it tends to be more conservative, consultants said.

``It'll be the soccer moms and the ESPN men, the people who 20 years ago were aerospace workers in Northridge and Chatsworth, it's those people who are the question,'' said political consultant Howard Sunkin.

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Chart: BY THE NUMBERS

Here is a breakdown of how voters in Los Angeles City Council districts in the San Fernando Valley voted in Tuesday's election

SOURCE: Los Angeles City Clerk's Office