Garcetti Campaign Fund Still Biggest

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti maintains a sizable cash advantage over his five challengers in the March 26 primary election, according to campaign finance statements due Thursday in the Los Angeles County registrar’s office.

Garcetti, seeking a second term, received $45,075 in cash contributions for the reporting period that ran from Jan. 1 through Feb. 10.

After paying various expenses, his campaign’s cash on hand totaled $936,310, down slightly from the $944,881 with which it ended 1995.

Among the five challengers, Malcolm Jordan remains the only one with contributions in six figures. Jordan, a veteran deputy district attorney, had cash on hand of about $125,000, a spokesman said. That figure marked a dip from the $177,913 Jordan had in the bank on Dec. 31.

Fund-raising for two other challengers, meanwhile, picked up considerably. John Lynch, head of the district attorney’s Norwalk office, received $21,959. His available cash totaled $17,637.

Encino attorney Steve Zand reported cash contributions of $22,585 and available cash of $12,816. Zand, however, decried the necessity of raising a large amount of money for campaigning. “The system discourages people who want to run because they want to contribute. The system encourages those who want to run because they want to be big-time politicians,” he said.

Lawyer and law teacher Harold Greenberg raised $6,995. His cash balance was $1,605.

Sterling “Ernie” Norris, another longtime deputy district attorney, said he had raised $1,900 and had $1,000 cash on hand.