Will Council Races Challenge Anyone?
Los Angeles City Councilmembers who represent Downtown and surrounding areas could face some competition as they seek re-election in a few months, but early indications on campaign cash point to smooth sailing for the incumbents.
The list of individuals who met the November 8 deadline to declare their intention to run in the March 3 municipal primary election shows a lone candidate posing a challenge to two-term 9th District City Councilmember Jan Perry, who represents much of Downtown and a portion of South Los Angeles. The prospective challenger, Keith Manns, has in the past served several terms as an elected member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party’s Central Committee, which is intended to function as an advisory board of sorts for the organization. Manns listed himself as a “parent” on his filing document. He could not be reached for comment, as of presstime, when few other details on his campaign were available.
13th District Councilmember Eric Garcetti—a two-term incumbent who represents parts of the Echo Park and Silverlake districts, among others, and serves as president of the 15-member legislative body—could face two challengers (see related photo and caption, home page). Keith Hardine is listed as a “youth trainer” in filing documents for the race in the 13th District, and Gary Slossberg is identified as a “public interest attorney.”
Neither Hardine nor Slossberg could be reached for comment. The Internet website of the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice in East Los Angeles listed Slossberg as a Harvard-educated lawyer who serves as a “Teen Advocate and Family Law Attorney” on the organization’s staff. The website also listed various volunteer efforts by Slossberg, along with a year spent teaching 1st grade at a public school in the Boyle Heights district, and current service as treasurer of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, which covers a territory within the 13th City Council District.
A host of hopefuls have filed to challenge 1st District Councilmember Ed Reyes, who represents the Pico-Union and Westlake districts west of Downtown, the Angeleno Heights district to the northwest, the Chinatown district to the north, and various other areas to the northeast. Reyes is also a two-term incumbent, and the filings indicated that he could face Sylvia Luna, listed an county employee; Jesse Rosas (businessman/community activist); Matthew Mitchell (project manager); Joshua Adam Olivas (activist/executive recruiter); William “Rodriguez” Morrison (state precinct chairman); and Nathaniel Garcia (director, arts education).
There’s no guarantee that any of the prospective challengers in the races will complete the nominating process, which next requires each of them to submit valid nominating petitions by December 3. Also unknown for most of them is the amount of campaign money they mighy have, since it appears that all but one have only recently begun efforts to tap donors.
The incumbents in each of the three races have been hard at work on fundraising for some time, however. Perry’s campaign had raised nearly $250,000 for her run in the 9th District, as of September 30, the most recent filings required by the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office. Perry had spent approximately $85,000, and had roughly $165,000 on hand at the time of the filing.
Garcetti’s campaign in the 13th District had taken in nearly $500,000, spent approximately $200,000, and had close to $300,000 on hand, as of September 30.
Reyes’ campaign in the 1st District had collected nearly $133,000 and spent approximately $30,000, leaving a little more than $100,000 on hand, according to his filing.
Rosas is the lone challenger in any of three races to report any fundraising so far, with a total of approximately $1,700, with half of it spent and half of it on hand.
The next filing period for reports on fundraising is January 31.
Filings for the race for mayor point to a relatively smooth path to re-election for incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. A long list of challengers have filed for the race, but only one—local attorney Walter Moore, who finished seventh in the mayoral primary in 2005—has much name recognition among voters. Villaraigosa (see related Dot Dot Dish item, home page) had raised more than $2 million for his campaign as of the September 30 filing, compared to approximately $162,000 for Moore.
The race for City Attorney is open, and 5th District Los Angeles City Councilmember Jack Weiss and five other challengers have filed to run. Weiss had raised approximately $1.2 million for his campaign and had roughly $900,000 on hand, as of the recent filing.
A couple of other candidates have raised significant totals, even if they still lag Weiss. Michael Amerian—a deputy City Attorney—had raised approximately $218,000 and had $200,000 on hand, as of September 30; and Carmen A. Trutanich—an environmental attorney—had raised nearly $500,000 and had more than $300,000 on hand.
The contest for City Controller is also open, and could bring a genuinely competitive race. 2nd District Los Angeles City Councilmember Wendy Greuel has long been planning her run for the citywide office, and could be joined by four other challengers.
Greuel had raised $700,000 and had $500,000 on hand, as of the recent filings, which put her well ahead of any of the challengers. That could change, though, because one of the challengers is expected to include Nick Patsaouras, a wealthy businessman who has long been involved in local politics and has also served on a number of city and regional commissions, including a recent post as chairman of the board that oversees the city-owned Department of Water & Power (DWP).
