Hertzberg on a High

LAist has to admit, it’s been a banner weekend for mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg. Running as the #3 in a 3-man race, in the last several days Hertzberg has received some major endorsements that could help boost him into a runoff. The combined effects of the three endorsements help him in his base constituencies: Republicans and Valley voters.
Schwarzenegger Endorses LAUSD Breakup
LAist has noted with amusement that every time the Times mentions Hertzberg’s LAUSD breakup plan, they also say “the mayor has no authority over the school district.” Whether that’s because the Times editorial board doesn’t agree with the policy, because they think Hertzberg’s plan is “a cynical ploy to get votes,” as his opponents have said, or because they simply don’t like Hertzberg (though we doubt that), the plan got a major boost this week when the Governor supported it. Why? While the Mayor doesn’t have authority over the school district, the state does. The Governator and Bobzilla are close friends, and when you put those two factors together, what do you have? A good chance to put the seemingly impossible policy into action. All of a sudden, the relentless attacks by Hertzberg’s opponents about the Mayor’s authority are stopped in their tracks, and this allows Hertzberg to advertise the breakup plan with the Governator’s seal of approval.

Riordan Endorsement
A day after the Governator came out in support of breakup, former Mayor Dick Riordan endorsed Hertzberg for mayor. As the Times notes, this gives Hertzberg credibility in the Valley and among Republicans, the bases he seeks to woo. Up until this point, Hertzberg has been lacking in endorsements from elected officials, as Hahn has picked up most of the City Council, as well as several state officials, while Villaraigosa gained Councilman Jack Weiss, and Jewish Congressmen Howard Berman and Henry Waxman. LAist feels that Riordan's endorsement (while not surprising, as his wife is one of Hertzberg's campaign co-chairs) might be the best endorsement of all: he has extremely high name recognition, citywide visibility, and his personal appeal to Republicans and Valley voters matches perfectly with Hertzberg's targeting. Oh, and he happens to be the State's Secretary of Education; think that helps the breakup idea? In a City where many ordinary citizens feel that the municipality is moving in the wrong direction, Council endorsements could be counterproductive, while we feel that the troika of Jewish politicians endorsing Villaraigosa broke too soon to have much effect close to election day.

Daily News Endorsement
Short and sweet: Who reads the Daily News? Valley voters, and Republicans. Who is Hertzberg trying to get? Valley voters, and Republicans. Again, it's no real surprise that Hertzberg picked up the DN, but it provides him with a major credibility and visibility boost, and as the least-known of the major candidates, that's exactly what he needed.

The next big question: Who does the Times endorse next week? LAist declares that the Times will select... No Endorsement! Hahn and Villaraigosa have been uninspiring, they hate Hertzberg's plan to break up LAUSD, and Parks and Alarcon have no chance to make the runoff.