Garcetti Spent $2.4 Million on Race

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti spent more than $2.4 million to narrowly retain his post in last year’s election, outspending challenger John Lynch by a margin of about 6 to 1, according to the year-end campaign election disclosure forms.

Garcetti spent $2,455,822 in 1996--and has $139,000 left in the bank. He is believed to have raised and spent more money than anyone in the history of Los Angeles County district attorney elections.

Lynch, a deputy district attorney who heads the Norwalk branch office, spent $406,898, according to the disclosure reports.

The reports, filed Jan. 31 with the county registrar-recorder’s office, offer evidence not only of Garcetti’s extraordinary fund-raising abilities but of the results big money can deliver in a countywide race.

Having raised a mountain of cash--$1.33 million in 1996--in a race that had been widely viewed as a referendum on the failed prosecution of the O.J. Simpson case, Garcetti launched a massive advertising blitz attacking Lynch in the weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

Campaign aides have said Garcetti spent more than $1 million on television and radio ads during the fall election. He won a second term as the county’s top law enforcement official by about 4,700 votes out of 2.2 million cast.

During the final weeks of the year, from Oct. 20 through Dec. 31, according to the incumbent’s report, Garcetti raised $325,254. The report details 58 pages of contributors and offers this compelling measure of Garcetti’s talent at raising money:

A dozen Garcetti donors contributed $5,000 or more. Adding together just the sums those 12 contributed yields $130,000. By itself, that amount well exceeds the $93,827 Lynch raised from all donors during the same period.

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Among those giving $5,000 to Garcetti were agents to the stars International Creative Management of Beverly Hills, GTI Telecom of Winter Park, Fla., and television mogul Aaron Spelling. A separate $5,000 check came from Spelling Entertainment Group.

The Southern California District Council of Carpenters’ political action committee, a frequent Garcetti contributor, gave $15,000. Grocery giant Ralphs/Food 4 Less gave $20,000.

Garcetti’s single largest contribution, meanwhile, came from Hollywood investor A. Jerrold Perenchio. He donated $50,000 on Oct. 28, upping his contribution total for the year to $105,000, the forms indicate.

Garcetti’s fund-raising capabilities have led some political analysts to label him a potential Democratic candidate for California attorney general in 1998--especially now that he has proven he can win despite the failed Simpson prosecution. In interviews, however, Garcetti has said repeatedly that he has no plans for other office and intends to run for a third term as district attorney in 2000.

Lynch said of the $2.4 million Garcetti spent: “At some point the money becomes overwhelming.” And in comments that underscored the bitterness that still simmers in the district attorney’s office over last fall’s election, he said, “We faced a campaign constrained by neither budget nor conscience.”

During the campaign, Lynch and his aides said frequently that they believed they could be competitive if he raised at least $400,000.

According to the disclosure forms, Lynch raised $427,474.

Of that amount, $382,980 was cash; the remainder included $13,000 in loans and $31,494 worth of items such as stamps, mailings, party expenses and outdoor advertising.

Lynch also pledged repeatedly that he would accept no more than $5,000 from an individual contributor during a single reporting period.

However, the forms indicate that he received $10,000 in cash on Nov. 22 from property manager Phyllis Gorby Kelley. It also indicates that she contributed $27,700 total in 1996.

Lynch said both figures appear to be accounting errors. He said he believes she gave him a $10,000 loan and contributed $5,000 cash.

According to the forms, Lynch ended 1996 with $812 in the bank and $19,188 in debts. A January fund-raising dinner, he said, wiped out most of the debt.

Garcetti ended the year with the $139,000 cash on hand but debt of $393,235.