TOO CLOSE TO CALL HAHN, VILLARAIGOSA, HERTZBERG BATTLING FOR RUNOFF.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Tension was high Tuesday night at the Conga Room in the mid-Wilshire District, but it wasn't the salsa music that had the crowd in a fever - James K. Hahn, the champion campaigner who has won citywide office six straight times, was fighting for his political life.

As the polls closed, a band started playing jazz and Latin music and the room filled with the mayor's staff, volunteers and supporters. A big-screen television carried the first commentaries from local stations even before absentee ballots were counted.

``I'm anxious. I can't wait to find out the results,'' said volunteer Roberta Lewis of Woodland Hills.

With Hahn locked in a three-way tie with Antonio Villaraigosa and Bob Hertzberg for two spots in the May 17 mayoral runoff, the crowd was upbeat but nervous. Hahn - beset by an image of dullness and haunted by the specter of scandal - faced the possibility of being the first Los Angeles mayor to be defeated at the polls since Sam Yorty in 1973.

It seemed inconceivable just a few months ago, but on election night the prospect of being knocked off in the primary loomed large - a possibility that analysts said would have major repercussions for City Hall politics and even resonate across the country.

``It's a given'' he makes the runoff, well-known political consultant Joe Cerrell said. ``If he doesn't, it's all over, a national story.''

``Epic,'' was how campaign consultant Arnold Steinberg described a Hahn defeat, shaking the perceived power of incumbency to its core.

``It would suggest 'pay-to-play' has taken hold,'' Steinberg said.

The inconceivability of Hahn losing was heightened by a campaign war chest that has allowed him to spend more than $3.5 million - about $1 million more than either of the top two contenders. In addition, he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent expenditure campaigns by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and city employee unions and a seasoned campaign operation that kept phone banks packed and precinct walkers out until the last moment.

Against such a political organization, the issue came down to whether Hahn was ``damaged goods'' to the extent that even such a machine couldn't prop him up.

That Hahn - with his incumbency and political pedigree as the son of beloved county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn - should be in danger was viewed by supporters largely as the result of negative attack ads and unsubstantiated ``pay-to-play'' allegations of corruption in city contracting practices.

There also was some acknowledgment that Hahn's style - his failure to chart a dynamic vision for Los Angeles - contributed to his troubles.

Cerrell said most voters indicate they want a ``firecracker'' for a leader, even if their voting behavior doesn't always reflect that.

Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior scholar at USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development, said Hahn also may have been hurt indirectly by being the first major politician in the ``post'' Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger era to run for office.

``Schwarzenegger has raised the bar as a political communicator,'' Jeffe said. ``He resonates with voters with his animation and enthusiasm, with glitz and glamour. Voters begin to hold up Schwarzenegger as the standard they now hold politicians to.''

She said Hertzberg, in particular, seemed to take a page out of Schwarzenegger's playbook with his ads, that - while gimmicky in portraying himself as a bigger-than-life giant against an L.A. landscape - resonated with voters.

While Hahn trumpeted on the campaign stump his keeping L.A. together during the 2001 San Fernando Valley drive for cityhood, and hiring William J. Bratton to head the Los Angeles Police Department, his opponents sought to exploit his failure to deliver on his promise to hire more cops, fix traffic congestion and deal more effectively with schools while pushing an unpopular plan to expand Los Angeles International Airport.

Even if Hahn makes the runoff, Steinberg said, he faces a tough challenge to win re-election.

``It will be a very strident runoff.''

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, left, walks with his son Jackson, 12, on election morning in San Pedro, trailed by news cameras. Candidates Bob Hertzberg, center, with his wife, Cynthia Telles, at a polling station in Sherman Oaks, and Antonio Villaraigosa, right, with his wife, Corina, at a Mt. Washington polling place, cast their ballots.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(4) After voting, Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn walked to a supporter's house in San Pedro on Tuesday to buy Girl Scout cookies from Janice Oliver, left, and Sydney Lezburg, both 9.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer