Wednesday, 4/9/97
Riordan re-elected in 2-to-1 landslide
Polls marred by logistical mishaps, dismal voter turnout
By John Digrado
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In a local election that only garnered 19.6 percent of the
registered vote, Mayor Richard Riordan won the voters’ approval to
continue his tenure in the city of Los Angeles’ highest office for
another four years.
Riordan, who handily defeated challenger state Sen. Tom Hayden
(D-Santa Monica) in a municipal election marred by erroneous
ballots and polling confusion, won by an approximate 2 to 1
margin.
With 92.5 percent of the precincts reporting, Hayden had
received 33.8 percent of the vote, compared to Riordan’s 62.1
percent.
The incumbent mayor was the favorite for re-election throughout
a campaign rife with political mudslinging and marked by a racially
divided electorate. Riordan reflected his desire to bring that
electorate together in his acceptance speech.
"We will continue to make L.A. safer together," Riordan said at
a victory party at the downtown Biltmore Hotel. "I’m proud to be
your mayor. Together, we will face the future with confidence.
Working together, there is no challenge too great for us. We are
the city of the future, the city of dreams and opportunity. We are
L.A."
Students in support of Riordan said that while they were not
altogether shocked by the outcome, they did not expect such a
strong victory.
"I am not at all surprised by the results," said Bruin
Republicans President Jason Steele. "But I am surprised by the
margin. The polls picked the winner a long time ago."
At an election party held in the Crenshaw district on Tuesday
evening, Hayden accepted the loss with congratulations to
Riordan.
"(Riordan) has won re-election, but now he must decide what to
do," Hayden said in his concession speech. "I will call Mayor
Riordan and congratulate him, but I am not sure he has won the
inner city," he said.
Some students were disappointed with Hayden’s performance in the
election, and pondered what might have been had Hayden won.
"Hayden would have really brought the issue of race relations
into the forefront," said Angela Foster, president of the Bruin
Democrats.
While Riordan walked away with the victory, Hayden’s appeal to
minority groups was obvious just prior to the election. A Los
Angeles Times poll released last week found that 71 percent of
African American voters favored Hayden.
Groups that endorsed Hayden said that the senator stood for
common ideals.
"The Sierra Club endorsed Hayden … because he has always been
a good environmentalist," said Rudy Vietmeier, a member of the
Sierra Club. "Tom would do what is best for the people, what would
make the city more livable."
"When I went down Beverly Boulevard, the Hispanic people I
talked to responded very favorably," said Hayden campaign member
Roger Bruce. "They took the flyers and they read them. They didn’t
just throw them away."
The candidates did their best to make the public notice in spite
of the widespread apathy.
Sticking mainly to the issues, the race began focused on the
problems Los Angeles faces as one of the most racially diverse
cities in the world.
Each candidate grappled with the city’s problems as best they
could: As part of their respective campaigns, Riordan joined in
with a city cleanup effort while Hayden visited college campuses to
promote a crackdown on gang violence.
As the campaign continued, however, Hayden turned to more
personal attacks on the mayor in his quest for votes, calling
Riordan a racist who had abandoned the inner city. Hayden later
apologized for the remark.
Riordan instead relied on his record, stating that it proved
tough enough to turn the city around during his tenure. Elected
just one year after the 1992 riots, the mayor claimed that he had
delivered, pointing to lower crime rates and the 2,000 Los Angeles
Police Department officers added in the last four years.
"What we need to do is see that every part of Los Angeles is
safe, with a government friendlier to business, with improved
neighborhoods and seeing every child has a quality education,"
Riordan said.
Riordan’s business-friendly politics has also helped lower
unemployment in the the city.
But according to Hayden, that progress came at too high a price.
The mayor abandoned the inner city, Hayden said, and left Los
Angeles vulnerable to threats against the city’s environment and
quality of life.
"There is a danger that we are going to become a city of Web
sites for the few and sweatshops for the many," Hayden said.
In spite of Hayden’s defeat, however, some felt the real loss
was handed to the electorate.
"I expected Riordan to be a landslide," said Richard Meruelo, a
supporter attending Riordan’s victory party. "The real casualty is
the low voter turnout. Nobody seems to be interested."
In fact, the election marked one of the worst turnouts ever for
a Los Angeles election, with city clerk officers estimating that no
more than 35 percent of all registered voters would turn out.
But even those abysmal expectations proved optimistic with only
66,330 ballots cast as the polls closed. Elections officials blamed
dozens of polling places’ late opening on the low turnout.
Some polling places received faulty ballots, while others did
not open at all after election proctors backed out at the last
minute and were not rescheduled. Of the roughly 2,300 polling
places across the city, 19 never opened.
Thousands of would-be voters were either inconvenienced or could
not vote at all because of the snafus. Other voters were seen
driving up and down residential streets in search of polling
stations that did not exist.
"The poll workers were very confused," said City Councilman
Richard Alarcon. "It’s been an interesting day. I don’t recall ever
working an election where there were this many problems."
Polling stations in and around UCLA experienced minor problems,
including a lack of private polling booths, but held voting hours
as scheduled.
Both Bruin Democrats and Republicans noticed the general lack of
enthusiasm for the nonpartisan elections on campus and in the
campaigns in general.
"College students don’t tend to be interested in the mayoral
election," Foster said. "They don’t see how the mayor affects
them."
Despite his loss, Hayden will likely stay around civic politics
long enough to make an impact outside of the mayoral office in
addition to the remainder of his term in the state Senate.
"Without dreams, Los Angeles can never be a city of hope, only a
place of survival and antagonism," he said. "Whatever the outcome
tonight, this dreamer will not go away."
With reports from Tyler Maxwell, Daily Bruin Contributor