Politics on the Eastside: Clout, but No Machine

Latino activists in Los Angeles often refer to a “political machine” that operates on the city’s Eastside. A “machine” is what the late Mayor Richard J. Daley ran in Chicago. There is nothing like that on the Eastside.

There is an effective political organization out there, to be sure, controlled largely by City Councilman Richard Alatorre, who previously represented the area in the California Assembly. The clique’s other leader is Alatorre’s longtime friend, state Sen. Art Torres. Occasionally they join Assemblywoman Gloria Molina and Rep. Edward R. Roybal to support a candidate. But that’s as far as it goes.

The Eastside political Establishment (a more accurate term, I think) has clout, but it doesn’t control Eastside politics or politicians.

As an example, look at what is happening in the 55th Assembly District, which runs from Northeast Los Angeles into Pasadena. Alatorre held this seat for a dozen years before moving on to the council in a special election last December. Much to Alatorre’s and Torres’ chagrin, their candidate, former Alatorre aide Richard Polanco, is having a very hard time getting himself elected to replace his former boss in the Assembly.

Despite all the “right” endorsements, plenty of money and aggressive (some would say questionable) campaigning, Polanco was barely able to outpoll a popular Highland Park businessman, Mike Hernandez, 39% to 37%, in last month’s special election to fill out Alatorre’s term. Polanco’s campaign hit a new low when the Mexican-American Political Assn., which rarely resists Torres or Alatorre, refused to endorse Polanco in his face-off with Hernandez in the June 6 election.

In one of the more bizarre political balancing acts of recent history, MAPA delegates voted to endorse both Polanco and Hernandez, but in two different elections that will be on the same ballot, on the same day.

Polanco must run in two elections on June 6. He is the Democratic candidate in a special runoff to fill out the balance of Alatorre’s term. If he wants to hold that seat after the end of the year, Polanco must also win the Democratic primary leading up to November’s general election. Opposing Polanco in the primary is Hernandez, whose campaign has moved into high gear as a result of his April 8 showing against Polanco. Among his key supporters are Molina and Roybal.

The MAPA endorsement illustrates how the Polanco vs. Hernandez race has divided Eastside political activists. On the one hand, Latinos in MAPA know that loyalists in the Alatorre-Torres clique assume that they can run for office whenever their bosses give them their blessing. That is what happened in 1982, when Polanco ran unsuccessfully against Molina for Torres’ old Assembly seat. It happened again in 1983, when Larry Gonzalez, a Torres aide, won election to the Los Angeles Board of Education.

But MAPA members who live in the 55th District know and respect Hernandez. Unlike Polanco, who moved into the area to run for office, Hernandez grew up there, attended local schools, has been president of the local Jaycees and even chairman of the local Christmas parade. He is, in the truest sense of the word, a community leader.

So who should be the favorite in such a contest--Polanco, the well-connected politico, or Hernandez, the home-grown political neophyte?

With that tough decision facing 55th District voters, many are looking for guidance to groups like MAPA, presumably made up of political realists but also people who are selfless enough to give up their personal time for the sake of community involvement.

At first glance, MAPA’s dual endorsement might seem equivocal, even cowardly. But it is actually quite astute. Since Polanco is the only Democrat on the ballot in the special election, in a heavily Democratic district, he is likely to win and thus is a sound candidate to endorse. But on the primary ballot MAPA apparently picked Hernandez as a better choice to beat a Republican in November.

MAPA is sending a not-so-subtle message to Alatorre and Torres: You don’t run the show on the Eastside.

Area voters, it seems, are starting to realize that while Torres and Alatorre are capable politicians, the clones on their staffs are not necessarily made of the same stuff. And community leaders like Hernandez are proving that one can run an effective campaign for public office in the area without the financial aid and clout that Alatorre and Torres can provide.

The same thing happened a couple of years ago when a political unknown, city planner Steve Rodriguez, surprised the Latino Establishment by almost unseating the formidable former councilman, Arthur K. Snyder. Rodriguez’s success persuaded Alatorre to run for the council last year. Rodriguez has since faded away, but now another surprise contender for public office has emerged in the same part of town.

Watching Polanco stumble around against Hernandez, I get the impression that one of these days a bright newcomer is going to stun the Eastside Establishment by knocking off one of its candidates.

Maybe when that happens people will stop talking about an Eastside political machine.