New Mayor Spent Twice Hahn’s Total

Antonio Villaraigosa spent twice as much as incumbent James K. Hahn to win the May runoff election for mayor of Los Angeles, according to the final tally of campaign finances filed Monday.

The new mayor spent $5.2 million compared with $2.5 million for Hahn, although Hahn substantially outspent Villaraigosa in the March round of the mayoral election, the campaign reports show.

Villaraigosa got a late surge of campaign money in the weeks before and just after the May 17 election, although he ended the reporting period on June 30 with $176,600 in unpaid bills.

The enormous difference between the two candidates surprised some political experts, including Larry Levine, although Villaraigosa defeated Hahn by a 17-point margin.

“It’s a sign that a lot of people saw Jim wounded beyond salvation and got on the bandwagon with Villaraigosa,” Levine said. “I am surprised by the size of the gap because generally incumbents are stronger fundraisers.”

It helped that Villaraigosa led Hahn by nine points in the March round of the elections, said Parke Skelton, a campaign advisor to Villaraigosa.

Combining the March and May phases of the election, Villaraigosa spent $8 million. Hahn spent $6.2 million.

The amount spent by 10 mayoral candidates in the March election and Hahn and Villaraigosa in the May runoff -- $18.6 million -- concerned Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, who said the city should look at ways to address independent expenditures, which routinely trigger the lifting of spending limits.

The latest campaign finance reports for the period of May 12 through June 30 indicate that Villaraigosa raised $405,000 and spent $877,000, compared with $181,000 and $374,000 by Hahn.