15 Candidates Running for Woo’s Council Seat : Election: June 8 runoff is likely--given the number of contenders in April 20 vote. Diverse field reflects the district’s makeup.

In what could prove this year’s most freewheeling race for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, 15 candidates--from former officeholders to political neophytes--have declared their intention to run for the 13th District seat that Michael Woo is vacating to run for mayor.

So far, the candidates constitute the largest field in any of the eight council district races to be held April 20. A final list will be decided Feb. 13--the deadline for candidates to submit petition signatures to the city.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the April 20 election--a likely prospect in the 13th District, given the number of contenders--the two top vote-getters will square off in a runoff on June 8.

The candidates for the 13th District seat appear to be as diverse a group as will be found in any of the council races. And that should come as no surprise, given the eclectic nature of the district, which runs from Hollywood east to Glassell Park and includes the communities of Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Eagle Rock.

The district’s ethnic mix also is considerable. According to city officials, 57% of the district’s 232,000 residents are Latino, 21% are Anglo, 19% are Asian, and 3% are black. However, the demographic breakdown for registered voters is 61% Anglo, 24% Latino, 9% black and 6% Asian.

In terms of name recognition, the most prominent candidate vying to succeed Woo is former Los Angeles Board of Education member Jackie Goldberg. Along with television executive Conrado Terrazas and AIDS health care provider Michael Weinstein, Goldberg is one of three gay and lesbian leaders in the race, which could give Los Angeles its first openly homosexual council member.

Other 13th District candidates include Tom LaBonge, a longtime aide to City Council President John Ferraro, and Tom Riley, a former Teamsters Union organizer and recent aide to Democrat Barbara Boxer in her successful U.S. Senate campaign.

Also declaring their intentions to seek the office were the following candidates, listed in order of their filings:

William Thomas Martin III, an unemployed househusband and father.

Virginia Stock Johannessen, community advocate.

Businesswoman Elizabeth Michael.

Executive marketing consultant Gilbert Carrasco.

Lily Yeelam Lee, a public administrator and gerontologist.

Sal Genovese, health care consultant.

David Davis, engineer, inventor, musician.

Theodore Neubauer, veterans coordinator.

Adelina Ruth Sorkin, city commissioner.

Efren Litimco Mamaril, a special assistant to the mayor.