VALLEY VOTERS BACKING GALATZAN LAUSD'S LAURITZEN FACING UPHILL BATTLE.Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIANStaff Writer Incumbent Jon Lauritzen won only four of 16 San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. communities in last week's primary election, putting him at a disadvantage heading into the May runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. against front-runner Tamar Galatzan, experts said Monday. Lauritzen, whose second-term campaign has the support of the powerful United Teachers Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , captured 40 percent of the vote to Galatzan's 44 percent. Galatzan was backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. in a multimillion-dollar race to represent the Valley. Veteran political consultant Joe Cerrell said the results are significant and could indicate a rough campaign for Lauritzen. "The incumbent is supposed to win. If the incumbent can't win it outright, he's dead," Cerrell said. "It's unusual for an incumbent to be forced into a runoff, but at least they come in first. This guy is dead." Lauritzen, who taught for more than three decades in West Valley schools, won only in Reseda, Tarzana, West Hills and Winnetka, election results show. Galatzan, a longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective city prosecutor with low name recognition, won the most votes in Granada Hills, North Hills, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Studio City and Chatsworth -- where Lauritzen lives. Runoffs in District 3, as well as District 7 near South Gate, will determine whether Villaraigosa-backed candidates can seize the majority of Los Angeles Unified seats. The Partnership for Better Schools, a political-action committee created by Villaraigosa supporters, contributed $1.2 million to Galatzan. The UTLA UTLA United Teachers of Los Angeles (California) donated $475,000 to Lauritzen. John Shallman, Lauritzen's campaign manager, attributed Galatzan's lead to her strong financial backing. "I think it's an extraordinary showing for Jon in a classic David versus Goliath race," Shallman said. "A lot of it was voters being told by the mayor and the politicians that this is the direction for change ... but now voters have a clear understanding of what's at stake." Villaraigosa took aim at the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) about two years ago, announcing his intention to wrest wrest tr.v. wrest·ed, wrest·ing, wrests 1. To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements: wrested the book out of his hands; wrested the islands from the settlers. away control of the nation's second-largest school district in order to increase student test scores and reduce the dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human rate. He fell short of that goal and subsequently authored a bill that would give him a prominent role in running the LAUSD, but that effort is now stalled in the courts. UTLA, meanwhile, says it also wants to improve student achievement but is seeking to work within the existing system. Raphael Sonenshein Raphael J. Sonenshein (born 1949) is a professor of political science at California State University, Fullerton. Teaching at the college since 1982, Sonenshein holds a bachelor's in public policy from Princeton University and a doctorate in political science from Yale University. , a political science professor at California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton, commonly known as CSUF, CSU Fullerton, or Cal State Fullerton, is a part of the California State University system. The University is located in the city of Fullerton, California, in northern Orange County. , predicted that supporters of Louis Pugliese, the third-place finisher in the primary for the Valley seat, will determine the winner of the runoff. "It strikes me that it's key to look at Pugliese's votes because whoever gets those is going to win," Sonenshein said. "Looking where his votes are strong is probably where both candidates are going to need to concentrate because they are fairly closely divided in most areas. "The two are not as far apart as candidates usually are in primary elections, so this puts a lot of interest in what the third candidate says, does, endorses." Pugliese, who captured more than 16 percent of the vote, said he had not yet decided whom to back. He's already met with the two candidates, he said, and will meet this week with UTLA President A.J. Duffy. Cerrell predicted that the turnout for the runoff election will be worse than the dismal 7 percent who voted last week. He said the situation will likely benefit Galatzan because voters who do turn out will be those trying to change the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. . "What's going to get them to the polls? 'I'm protesting what's there,'" Cerrell said. Shallman and Mike Trujillo, Galatzan's campaign manager, each said they plan to continue with the same message that marked the TV commercials and mailers in advance of the primary. Lauritzen will be emphasizing Galatzan's backing by Villaraigosa and her ties to City Hall, while Galatzan will be promoting herself as a reform candidate. "Valley voters are going to be hearing from Tamar Galatzan, a Valley mom, on how she wants to audit the district, lower class size and bring true parental involvement to every school," Trujillo said. naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3722 CAPTION(S): box Box: Close call |
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