TIPOFF MAYOR HAHN ALREADY GEARING UP FOR BIG RE-ELECTION FIGHT.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

Even with his election more than a year away, Mayor James Hahn served notice last week how seriously he was taking the race - by reporting he had raised $1.3 million, even with no major opponent.

That could change in the coming months as such heavyweight potential candidates as Councilman Bernard C. Parks and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg consider their options.

One person who has drawn a lot of interest - but is shying away - is Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski. Miscikowski, who is termed out next year, said the idea had crossed her mind. And then had been rejected.

``It is tantalizing,'' Miscikowski said. ``You think about how you would handle the job. I think the idea of being mayor is probably nicer than being mayor.''

The good news for District Attorney Steve Cooley is that 32 percent of Los Angeles residents believe he should be re-elected.

The bad news is that 39 percent aren't sure or don't know if they will vote for him.

That is the information gathered in a survey for former Councilman Nick Pacheco, who is the leading challenger to Cooley in the March 2 election, according to the poll which found he was the choice of 29 percent of voters.

The race includes four other candidates - public law attorney Roger Carrick, who has strong support in the environmental movement; prosecutors Tom Higgins and Denise Moehlman; and retired prosecutor Anthony Patchett.

Cooley needs to get better than 50 percent in the primary to avoid a runoff.

Since taking office four years ago, Cooley has managed to keep a relatively low profile and been both blessed and cursed by having few high-profile cases coming back to haunt him.

For Pacheco, the race is an attempt at a political comeback after being defeated last year by Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an appearance at Frank Fat's Chinese restaurant last week to celebrate the Year of the Monkey for the Chinese New Year.

While not a practice in recent years, visiting the restaurant was a long- standing tradition after it opened in 1939 and became the top hangout for lawmakers, lobbyists and those doing business in Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger, who enjoys going out, said he planned to ``hang out more here'' at the restaurant that serves as a bipartisan getaway.

``This is exactly what I'm trying to do here in Sacramento: to bring both of the parties together,'' Schwarzenegger said.

``I know a lot of the deals were made here in the back rooms. We all hear about those napkin deals, right? Where deals were made on napkins and deals were signed on napkins and all this. Well, I said to myself, if other people have done this, why shouldn't we do this, now?''

Schwarzenegger, who owns Schatzi on Main in Santa Monica, also offered his rating of the food at the restaurant.

``I know that they have a world-famous banana cream pie,'' the governor said. ``So I tasted the banana cream pie from here, and I tasted the banana cream pie from Schatzi on Main. And I have to admit, Fat's banana cream pie is better.

``But I tell you one thing: I tasted the wiener schnitzel here, and our wiener schnitzel is better, that's for sure.''

The Year of the Monkey forecast also contained some good news for the governor, who was born in the year of the boar.

According to Chinese astrologers, the coming year ``will bring success in impossible ventures - it's a time of courage, action and adventure, and a good time to start new endeavors in business, politics and real estate.''

Los Angeles officials are hoping they can keep the governor in a good mood when they go to visit Sacramento on Tuesday.

Mayor Hahn and a delegation of City Council members were frantically working through the weekend to set up meetings with the governor and legislative leaders to plead their case for help.

One of the governor's proposals would make up the loss of vehicle license fee funds but take away property tax money.

``We probably should do this more often,'' one city official said. ``We need to go up there more to make our case. And, we need to get them down here more often to remind them what the city does.''

Daily News staff writer David M. Drucker contributed.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com