Waging an Old-Fashioned Race, Voter by Voter

With the sun beating down and the temperature soaring on a recent afternoon, 11th District City Council candidate Cindy Miscikowski could hardly have been called cool as she knocked on voters’ doors in Mar Vista.

But the veteran council staffer doesn’t seem to be sweating Tuesday’s election to replace her ex-boss, Councilman Marvin Braude. Instead, Miscikowski exudes confidence that she is on the road to a comeback after a second-place finish in the primary turned her from front-runner to underdog overnight.

Earlier that afternoon on her home turf in Tarzana, front-runner Georgia Mercer was equally confident--and cool, since she was indoors, working a room of women playing bridge and mah-jongg in the Braemar Country Club.

Mercer finished just 900 votes ahead of Miscikowski and, as their runoff comes down to the wire, both campaigns are being waged the old-fashioned way, voter by voter, neighbor to neighbor, phone call by phone call.

For Miscikowski, that means donning white tennis shoes most every day to walk precincts. Pleading foot problems, Mercer relies on phone calls to voters supplemented by small “meet and greets” set up around the district by supporters.

Unlike in the primary, there have been few conventional campaign debates, but they have been more tense than in the early days, when the two candidates displayed similar styles and views.

Conventional political wisdom--the same wisdom that predicted Miscikowski would win the race outright in the primary--now sees Mercer in possession of the momentum.

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The percentage margin of her primary win in the Valley was in double digits, and she lost on Miscikowski’s home turf in the Westside by a few hundred votes. When campaign finance reports were filed last week, Mercer had raised substantially more money than Miscikowski during the runoff period, often viewed as a sign of which way political types think the wind is blowing.

“I have not seen any signs of erosion since the primary,” Mercer consultant Larry Levine said. “Quite the contrary . . . I don’t see any reason we should be pessimistic.”

The Mercer campaign has stayed a steady course, but responding to her surprise second-place finish, Miscikowski revamped her approach after the primary, beefing up a ground operation of paid walkers and phone banks, which Mercer had from the beginning.

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With a low voter turnout predicted, the race could hinge on geography and how many Valley voters, some of whom feel disenfranchised by their perceived lack of clout at City Hall, prefer a local to Brentwood resident Miscikowski. Miscikowski’s challenge is to cut into the big Valley vote Mercer got in the primary. Conversely, Mercer must stay close on the Westside, as she did in the primary, while maintaining her base.

The district extends from Mar Vista to Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and parts of West Los Angeles. It includes Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino and parts of Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys.

GOP voters are key to Miscikowski’s strategy. And when a Mar Vista voter said she was looking for the more conservative candidate, Miscikowski, who like Mercer is a Democrat, cited her endorsement from third-place primary finisher Republican Mark Isler.

In addition to adding a significant ground operation, Miscikowski consultant Rick Taylor said, the campaign “became a lot more focused on what the differences were between the candidates.”

Miscikowski is stressing her wealth of experience at City Hall, along with her environmental credentials and endorsements, including those of Braude and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Although Miscikowski had hoped to wage a positive campaign without referring to her opponent by name, she changed course after Mercer battered her in the primary.

Miscikowski has been dogged by campaign mailers criticizing her for living in a community that was gated by approval of the City Council. The city ceded the public streets to the Brentwood neighborhood, with Miscikowski’s then-lobbyist husband Doug Ring working as a pro bono attorney on the issue.

Another negative mailer has highlighted Miscikowski’s extensive financial backing from developers and lobbyists.

Both pieces were aimed at connecting Miscikowski with insider politics, thus neutralizing a key credential--that after 22 years as a city staffer, she has the experience to be the council member.

Miscikowski was especially incensed by the charge that she and her neighbors did something illegal to get the gates, when the city attorney’s office deemed the deal a legal way around a court decision.

Mercer does not apologize for the hits or their content.

“I ran an aggressive campaign,” she said. “We’re not running for president of the League of Women Voters here. This is hardball.”

But after the primary, the Mercer camp relied mainly on its positive message with the theme “Renew the Spirit.” Its mail featured her platform to have neighborhood councils with clout, a more business-friendly environment and a new committee on juvenile justice, an area of her expertise.

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An activist whose experience ranges from women’s groups to juvenile justice to raising money for a Valley hospital, Mercer is emphasizing her Valley roots. She said her most effective message has been that she views City Hall from the community’s perspective, while Miscikowski sees the community from City Hall.

Miscikowski, a council aide almost her entire career, has moved aggressively to capture the 15% of the primary vote won by Republican Isler. One mailer carried her vow to cut spending by getting rid of the Department of Public Works. It also criticized the City Council payout to former Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams.

In an absentee vote mailer, Miscikowski featured an endorsement from conservative county Supervisor Don Knabe, to whom Miscikowski’s husband donated $31,500 for his election campaign in 1994.

The outcome of the council race may in part rest on whether GOP voters respond to that message. The Mercer campaign is wooing them too, using a brochure featuring Mercer with her former boss, Mayor Richard Riordan, for whom she served as a community liaison.

Miscikowski also moved in quickly to capitalize on what Mercer agrees was her worst campaign error--a remark about homeowner associations having too much power. Mercer insists that the statement was taken out of context during a talk about reaching out to include business owners, renters and others on neighborhood councils.