In race for 25th District state senate seat, Antonovich holds slight fundraising lead over Portantino

The latest round of campaign finance reports for the California State Senate race in the 25th District reveal a slight lead in total money raised by the Republican challenger.

During the most recent filing period, which covers July 7 through Sept. 24, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich received $645,428.59 in total monetary and non-monetary contributions — $21,496.92 more than his Democratic opponent, former state Assemblyman Anthony Portantino.

At the time of filing, more than $335,000 of outstanding debt was disclosed by Portantino’s campaign, which according to a financial database by the Sacramento Bee, is more than any other candidates running for the California legislature. The campaign, however, also reports an ending cash balance of almost $440,000.

“State law requires campaigns to list bills that are unpaid at the close of a financial reporting period — even if they are paid before the report is actually filed a few days later,” said Tim Kirkconnell, a spokesperson for the Portantino campaign.

“That’s exactly what happened here. The Portantino campaign had more than enough cash on hand to cover all unpaid bills — and most were duly paid in the days after the reporting period ended. The payments will show up, as they always do, in the next report. End of story.”

Among Portantino’s accrued expenses at the time of filing were unpaid bills for credit card payments as well as print and TV media, among other expenses.

Antonovich’s share of debt, listed at slightly more than $46,000, is attributed to similar expenses, such as consulting and advertising.

Both candidates are competing for the 25th District state Senate seat held by Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada), who is termed out. During a June primary, four others were defeated by Antonovich and Portantino, who received roughly 39% and 28% of the vote, respectively.

---------------------

FOR THE RECORD

10/12, 11:23 a.m.: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Sen. Carol Liu chose not to run for re-election. She is termed out.

10/18, 12:25 p.m.: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Senate candidates Michael Antonovich and Anthony Portantino were recently polling at roughly 39% and 28%, but those were the percentages of the votes they received in the June primary election.

---------------------

At a recent candidate forum, a debate between Portantino and Antonovich centered on the issues of homelessness, public employee pensions and an extension of the 710 freeway.

“Our campaign is very pleased with the grassroots response of our local fundraising and the support of the Democratic Party,” Kirkconnell said. “Our momentum is building. We feel great about our position heading into the last month, and we anticipate ending a victorious campaign debt-free.”

Antonovich did not immediately return requests for comment.

--

Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda