Countdown to Election Day : 5 Days Left in the L.A. Mayoral Campaign : THE DAY IN REVIEW

How the mayoral candidates spent their day: Richard Riordan suspended campaigning so that he could travel to New York to attend the funeral of his 101-year-old mother. Strategists on both sides are trying to figure out how to sustain the momentum of a campaign that has relied heavily on personal attacks without violating the public’s sense of what is appropriate. Michael Woo went ahead with a new TV ad hammering away at Riordan’s recently disclosed record of three alcohol-related arrests from 1964 to 1975. Attorney Stan Sanders, the leading black candidate in last month’s primary, stood in for Riordan at a news conference in front of Reseda High School to accuse Woo of advocating giving a second chance to students caught with guns on campus. Sanders was joined by Margaret Ensley, whose son, Michael, was shot to death by a classmate at the school. Riordan’s absence has led to the postponement of what would have been the first televised debate of the campaign.

AIRWAVES / MAILBOX How the campaign was waged in the realm of advertising:

Woo began running a TV ad calling attention to Riordan’s alcohol-related arrests between 1964 and 1975. Riordan started a commercial featuring the mother of a high school student shot to death by a classmate.

COMING UP Some of the key events on the candidates’ schedules today: * Woo will hold a 10:30 a.m. news conference to discuss rent control at Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School in Sherman Oaks.

* Woo will hold a 2 p.m. news conference at his East Los Angeles campaign headquarters to announce the endorsement of Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles).

* Riordan’s campaign officials will hold an 11:30 a.m. news conference on the City Hall steps to announce endorsements from several of the lesser-known candidates in the mayoral primary.