Molina Takes Strong Fund-Raising Lead in New Council District

Assemblywoman Gloria Molina has taken an early, strong lead in fund-raising for election to the new Los Angeles City Council 1st District seat in the Eastside-Northeast area, according to campaign contribution reports filed with the city clerk’s office.

Through Dec. 20, Molina raised $96,269, compared to $29,210 raised by school board member Larry Gonzalez. Leland Wong, a community planner, raised $13,145, which included several contributions from Chinatown-based businesses. Businessman Paul D.Y. Moore raised $3,945, mostly from $100 to $250 donations.

The large gap between Molina and Gonzalez surprised Molina supporters.

“We were somewhat surprised,” said Alma Martinez, Molina campaign manager. “As far as we can tell, we just worked harder. But we’re certainly not relaxing.”

Because of the city’s $500 contribution limit in council races, candidates now must draw from a larger group of donors in order to raise large sums of money. Gonzalez listed 72 donors who gave $100 or more compared to more than 250 such donors for Molina.

First of 3 Statements

The report is the first of three campaign statements that must be filed by candidates before the special Feb. 3 election to fill the vacant seat created by the death of former Councilman Howard Finn and the redrawing of council district lines.

Molina drew on contributions from the campaign committees of several of her Democratic colleagues in the Assembly: Art Agnos, Tom Bates, Robert Campbell, Tom Hannigan, Teresa Hughes, Johan Klehs, Burt Margolin, Sally Tanner and Curtis Tucker.

She also attracted $500 contributions from women’s groups, such as the LA National Organization for Women PAC, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Los Angeles Women’s Campaign Fund, and Women For. Molina also received $500 each from campaign finance co-chairmen Joan Palevsky, vice president of Immaculate Heart College, and Danny Villanueva general manager of KMEX Channel 34.

Other contributors included Board of Public Works Commissioner Edward Avila and Southern California RTD board members Norm Emerson and Carmen Estrada.

Gonzalez campaign spokeswoman Estella Lopez attributed Molina’s lead to “an earlier start by her. . . . We knew we’d be waging a campaign against a very well-financed front-runner in Gloria Molina. She definitely has the edge in fund-raising. She has a large donor base because she is an assemblywoman and her base reaches beyond the district, beyond Los Angeles.”

Surprises in Report

Surprisingly, the Gonzalez campaign report showed no contributions from Councilman Richard Alatorre or State Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), who from the beginning of Gonzalez’s council candidacy have been among his most prominent supporters.

However, Lopez said that since the end of the Dec. 20 filing period, Alatorre and Torres have contributed $500 each, which will be accounted for in the next campaign statement due by Jan. 22. She added that she expects Gonzalez to “significantly narrow the gap” with Molina by then.

Among the $500 supporters listed for Gonzalez are several Los Angeles Unified School District administrators; campaign committees of fellow school board member John Greenwood and Community College Board of Trustees member Leticia Quezada; RTD board member Nikolas Patsaouras, who also is Gonzalez’s finance chairman; and Christopher Stewart, president of the Central City Assn.

Gonzalez, who has $4,019 in cash, lists $37,438 as “unpaid expenses” to consultants. Molina, who has a $54,513 surplus, listed no debts.

Both Molina and Gonzalez have additional money in other campaign funds but are not allowed under city law to use those funds for their council races. Gonzalez has a $60,387 surplus in his campaign fund connected to his school board position; Molina has $45,279 left over from two committees affiliated with her state office.