Yaroslavsky Top Fund-Raiser in L.A. Council Race : Campaigns: Political novice’s war chest is larger than those of nine rivals in 5th District. Holden has strong financial edge over Sanders in 10th District.

Barbara Yaroslavsky, a political novice with a solid-gold political name, has raised $279,000 for her campaign to win her husband’s former Los Angeles City Council seat, making her the best-funded of 10 candidates in the hotly contested race.

Other campaign finance reports filed this week show that Councilman Nate Holden ended 1994 with a campaign war chest of $128,601, giving him a strong financial edge over his main challenger, attorney J. Stanley Sanders.

Meanwhile, in the 8th District, Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas also has established a strong financial base, raising $138,395 in the last half of 1994.

Ridley-Thomas’ contributors during that period included blue-chip corporations--ranging from Bank of America to Anheuser-Busch--and three dozen attorneys. He raised $9,250 from labor unions and political action committees and $6,950 from churches and ministers.

Rod Wright, an aide to Ridley-Thomas’ political rival Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), had not filed the declaration required before he could begin raising money, and sources said he told a group of ministers Friday that he has decided not to run.

In 1989, Wright came within about 500 votes of defeating Ridley-Thomas in a tough race.

Clearly the fund-raising champ is Yaroslavsky, the wife of Zev Yaroslavsky, who stepped down in December from the City Council seat he held for 19 years to join the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

In the race to represent the 5th District--which covers parts of the Westside and San Fernando Valley--Yaroslavsky’s nearest financial rival is Michael Feuer, formerly the executive director of Bet-Zedek Legal Services. Feuer has raised $119,500. Close behind are former Los Angeles school board member Roberta Weintraub, with $105,000, and Leah Purwin D’Agostino, a deputy district attorney, with $52,000.

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Yaroslavsky’s bid for election--which recently received the endorsement of Mayor Richard Riordan--is being heavily financed by attorneys, real estate firms and business executives.

In the 10th District, which includes Koreatown, incumbent Holden has received contributions from a number of Korean eateries and the Korean-American Grocers Assn.

During the last six months of 1994, Holden raised $55,225. In all of 1994, he brought in $162,718, leaving him with a year-end balance of $128,601.

The reports filed this week also show that Holden received nearly $6,000 from a fund-raiser held in Atlanta. Contributors at that event included Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and a number of sources involved in the airport food and beverage concession business.

Sanders ran for mayor in 1993 and scored more votes in the 10th District than Holden, who was also on the mayoral ballot that year. Sanders has raised a total of $39,116, according to his report, filed Thursday. His contributors list is heavily weighted with attorneys.

Eight council seats will be up for grabs on the April 11 primary ballot.