With the City of Los Angeles’ primary election less than two months away, politicians vying for a seat on the city council have put more emphasis on fundraising this quarter to get voters informed and to the polls.
Total political contributions of Council District 14, which encompasses neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock, and Downtown LA, have surpassed the one million dollar mark at $1,239,602.05, according to data from Los Angeles’ Ethics Commission’s website.
The current incumbent, Kevin de León, doubled his campaign contributions in just three months’ time. The pol garnered $257,308.03 in donations, but still trails behind his former ally, Miguel Santiago.
Santiago, who sits at the top of the fundraising pole, has acquired $460,188.16 in donations to date. The state Assemblymember representing District 54 has seen donations from Chris Holden, a fellow state legislator, Boyle Heights community members, several trade unions, and also donations from beverage entities such as Reyes Coca Cola Bottling and representatives from Keurig Dr. Pepper.
Wendy Carrillo, another state assemblymember, said in an interview with Boyle Heights Beat that her donation goal is to have $500 thousand by the time the general election rolls around. She’s currently just below half that, at $209,620.88.
Despite being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in early November, Carrillo has amassed close to $30 thousand in donations since the incident.
Nadine Diaz, who told the Beat in an October interview that she was mindful about who she accepted donations from and refused to take money from corporations, developers, big pharma and petroleum companies, has stood by her word and saw support from social workers, professors, and other independent community members. Her total donations sit at $4,737.45.
Teresa Hillery saw $19,451.05 in donations between October 1st and December 31st, totalling her contributions to $93,029.04. Ysabel Jurado also saw a significant jump in benefactions, landing her at $161,376.79.
Eduardo “Lalo” Vargas saw a small bump in financial support last quarter. His donations total $29,555.11.
Genny Guerrero, despite still not receiving any financial contributions to her campaign, secured enough signatures to appear on the primary election ballot come March.
Barry Boen, William Rodriguez Morrison, Nick Pacheco and Juan Marcos Tirado, have not logged any financial contributions as of Jan. 10. Nor has Sandy Sun, a newcomer to the CD 14 candidate ring. None of the aforementioned CD 14 candidates will be on the primary election ballot in March.
Samir Bitar, a San Fernando Valley native who served for three years on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, had no movement in his pool of contributions of $23,786.59 last quarter. But according to an Instagram post from Teresa Hillery on Jan. 11th, Bitar –who did not make the ballot– is no longer running in the race and has fully endorsed her campaign.
The primary election on March 5th will determine if Kevin de León, one of several councilmembers who were entangled in controversy regarding racist audio recordings, will ensure his presence on the general election ballot this November, or if a new, fresh face will step up to represent the fourteenth district.
Lists of individual political donors can be read on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission’s website.
