Outside group raises $310,000 from business interests backing Shriver

As they did in the primary, business interests have banded together to support candidate Bobby Shriver’s bid to replace Zev Yaroslavsky on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, new records show.

The Committee to Elect Bobby Shriver Supervisor 2014 has raised $310,000 since the June 3 primary, with much of the money coming from titans of financial services, real estate and construction, according to finance reports filed with the county’s Registrar-Recorder.

By law, contributors to so-called independent committees are exempt from the county’s campaign contribution limit of $1,500, freeing the organizations to raise unlimited amounts in support of a candidate. In the run-up to the June election, outside committees supporting Shriver gave more than $250,000.

Former state lawmaker Sheila Kuehl, who opponents call a career politician, finished first in the primary, with Shriver 7 percentage points behind. The competitors face each other again in the Nov. 4 general election.

Since July 1, the pace of contributions to committees backing Shriver has picked up.

Kong Leung of APA Investments, a real estate investment group, was the top giver at $35,000, followed by $30,000 from the California Real Estate PAC. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Robert Fisher, managing director of investment firm Pisces Inc., each gave $25,000.

Former L.A. Dodgers co-owner Jamie McCourt kicked in $10,000 to the committee, as did Rick Caruso, a Los Angeles retail developer, records show.

So far, no independent committees have formed to support Kuehl’s run. Kuehl and Shriver have agreed to raise no more than $1.4 million each for the runoff, turning the fundraising spotlight on outside groups who are free to raise as much as they want.

Kuehl, who’s backed by the Democratic Party, women’s groups and environmental and labor interests, picked up an endorsement this week from SEIU Local 721, representing roughly half of county government’s workforce.

Shriver has been backed by a number of business groups, community activists on the Westside and a private-sector construction union. The two will face each other in a debate Tuesday at UCLA.

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