Friedman leads in fundraising for Assembly race
With less than a month to go until election day on Nov. 8, Glendale Councilwoman Laura Friedman has out-fundraised opponent City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian in their bid for state Assembly in the 43rd District.
Friedman reported receiving $308,706 in campaign contributions from July 1 to Sept. 24, while Kassakhian received $247,590, including non-monetary contributions, during that same period, according to the Secretary of State’s financial records. Friedman had no non-monetary contributions.
The two Glendale city officials are vying to succeed Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), who is termed out at the end of the year.
After shelling out $169,920 in expenditures — mainly for campaign consultants, campaign mailings and polling research — Friedman ended the filing period with $254,636 cash in hand.
Friedman’s camp criticized Kassakhian’s spending after he reported having $124,223 in cash, after spending $157,855 during the three-month filing period. The city clerk has already spent $825,284 since the beginning of the year.
“Kassakhian has spent an awful lot of money leaving him with very little for the final weeks of the campaign,” wrote Parke Skelton, Friedman’s campaign consultant, in an email.
Larry Levine, a campaign consultant for Kassakhian fired back, saying that Friedman continues to take contributions from “venture capitalists and billionaires who want to make it easier for politicians and bureaucrats to fire teachers they don’t like.
“These same people want to drain money from our public schools to fund their own corporate-run schools,” Levine wrote in an email.
During the last filing period in June, Kassakhian called out Friedman for receiving campaign contributions from special interest groups outside of the 43rd District.
The Fisher family, the billionaire Bay Area family behind the Gap clothing company, contributed $16,800 during the three-month filing period. The Fishers have donated $33,600 so far this year, according to state financial records.
“As far as the Kassakhian campaign is concerned, we have the resources we need to conduct an aggressive and winning campaign,” Levine wrote.
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
