Top Rivals Amass $1.1 Million Each for Mayoral Drive

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and his anticipated reelection challenger, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, have each banked more than $1.1 million for their face-off next spring, aides to the two rivals said Friday.

The campaign funds have been amassed despite the city’s campaign law that limits individual contributors to $1,000 each.

Yaroslavsky has a slightly larger campaign nest egg than the mayor--slightly by the standards of a campaign that should break all records for spending in a Los Angeles mayoral election. Yaroslavsky’s bankroll is $71,542 larger than Bradley’s.

However, Bradley’s fund-raising machine, smoothly greased after 15 years in office, performed better in the last six months, raising $786,711 for the mayor compared to the $501,890 raised by supporters of Yaroslavsky.

The amounts will be announced to the public Monday in reports filed with the city clerk to comply with state and local campaign disclosure laws. However, both Bradley and Yaroslavsky provided the figures Friday in response to an inquiry from The Times.

The campaigns, which will peak in the city primary election in April, are expected to each spend $3 million or more on television, polls and the other weaponry of modern campaigns. If the campaign unfolds as expected, it will be the first strong challenge to Bradley since the 1970s.

Bradley declared his intention to seek a fifth term last year, shortly after his landslide loss to Republican George Deukmejian in the 1986 election for governor. Yaroslavsky is still an unannounced candidate, but his informal campaign has begun raising money in earnest nonetheless.

Legal Limits

Both campaigns are limited by the city’s campaign reform law, which restricts contributions from individuals to $1,000 for the mayoral primary. If there is a runoff election, contributors would be allowed to give another $1,000 each. This could change, depending on the legal interpretation of Proposition 73, the statewide campaign measure passed by voters in June. However, aides for Bradley and Yaroslavsky said they do not expect a major impact on the city race.

Until recently, Yaroslavsky had held a significant $250,000 edge on the mayor. But in the six months that ended June 30, Bradley’s forces have managed to nearly close the gap, according to Deputy Mayor Mike Gage and Yaroslavsky’s political aide, Ann Hollister.

Bradley aides also managed to raise about $160,000 to defray unpaid expenses from the 1986 campaign for governor, Gage said.

Also on Friday, Yaroslavsky aides disclosed that the campaign he is co-sponsoring to forbid oil drilling in Pacific Palisades by Occidental Petroleum Corp. is essentially out of money.

The campaign for the initiative, which is also sponsored by Councilman Marvin Braude, has only $5,752 in the bank despite large contributions from the two sponsors and a number of celebrities. The measure will be joined on the Nov. 8 ballot by a rival initiative--largely sponsored by Occidental--to allow the drilling and designate the revenue for police and enforcement of toxic waste laws.

Neither initiative is bound by the city’s campaign reform law.