Alarcon, Katz Step Up Battle for Campaign Funds

With two weeks to go before the primary election, state Senate candidates Richard Alarcon and Richard Katz have put their fund-raising operations into high gear, raising a combined total of nearly $500,000 over the past two months.

Alarcon, a city councilman from the northeast San Fernando Valley, raised $251,654 between March 18 and May 16 while Katz, a former assemblyman, raised $232,605, according to campaign records released Thursday.

In contrast, Alarcon and Katz each had raised about $110,000 less during the previous two-month period.

But Katz still holds a lead in the fund-raising race, thanks to $130,000 he transferred to his campaign from a previous Assembly account.

Katz has $200,356 in his campaign coffers while Alarcon has $150,328, according to the campaign records.

“We are in a substantially better position because we have so much more money,” said Harvey Englander, Katz’s campaign consultant. “We have sent out so much more mail and we have $50,000 more for the final two weeks.”

But Alarcon shrugged off Katz’s funding lead, saying, “The money will be the least important factor. The voters will be the most important factor.”

About half of Alarcon’s money was raised at a country-style hoedown at the Studio City home of Stanley Hirsch, a downtown landlord and former chairman of the Community Redevelopment Agency Commission.

Katz said he raised most of his money at smaller events and by calling people on the phone. “No big parties, no big dinners,” he said.

Republican challenger Ollie McCaulley, a Sun Valley businessman, raised $6,668 during the same period and has $1,301 on hand. Linda Starr, the Libertarian candidate, raised less than $5,000 and was not required to file a campaign statement.

The candidates are vying for the state Senate seat held by Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), who is being forced out of office by term limits. The district includes most of the northeast Valley.

In another local contest, Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena) continues to lead his Republican challenger, Ken LaCorte, in the race for the seat in the 44th Assembly District, which stretches into the northeast Valley.

Scott raised $70,500 in the most recent funding period and has $159,500 on hand, according to campaign records. LaCorte, meanwhile, raised $15,195 in the same period and has $33,026 on hand.

LaCorte suggested his status as a challenger makes it harder for him to raise money.

“It’s going to come in slower for me because I am a challenger,” he said.

In the race to represent the Glendale-based 43rd Assembly District, Republican challenger Peter Repovich, a police officer, led incumbent Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) in the fund-raising race during the recent funding period.

Repovich raised $59,414--$40,000 of which came in form of a campaign loan--while Wildman raised $49,100, according to records. The partial records provided by the campaign do not state who provided the loan to Repovich.

Wildman still has more money on hand, with $94,495, while Repovich has $46,923, according to records.

In a hotly contested congressional race, first-term Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) has a big fund-raising lead over his Republican challengers during the funding period between April 1 and May 13.

Sherman raised $73,668 while GOP businessman Randy Hoffman raised $21,695 during that period, according to campaign records.

But Hoffman, a former high-tech manufacturer who has a reported net worth of up to $7 million, still has the largest campaign war chest, thanks to $424,000 in loans and $85,000 from in-kind contributions he has given his campaign.

Hoffman has $358,288 on hand while Sherman has $246,258, according to campaign records.

Parke Skelton, Sherman’s campaign consultant, said Hoffman’s fund-raising numbers show he “obviously has no political base and can’t raise any money.”

“He is invisible besides having his own money,” Skelton said.

Sherman faces no Democratic challengers in the June 2 primary and therefore can save most of his money for the November general election.

“We are spending functionally zero,” Skelton said.

Todd Blair, Hoffman’s campaign director, said it is typical for a challenger to have trouble raising money before the primary election. He said when Sherman was a challenger in 1995, he raised much less than Hoffman had raised during the same funding period.

Blair said he expects more contributions to flow in after Hoffman, he said, wins the Republican nomination.

“The bulk of the money will come after June 2,” he said.

The Republican Party is desperate to win the seat to retain a majority in Congress. The congressional district stretches from the West Valley to Thousand Oaks.

Hoffman’s Republican challengers are Joe Gelman, a former newspaper columnist, and William Westmiller, a Thousand Oaks business owner.

Gelman has raised $3,275 in the past month and has $2,397 on hand, according to records. Westmiller, Libertarian Party candidate Erich Miller and Natural Law Party candidate Catherine Carter could not be reached Thursday.

In another congressional race, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills) continues to lead his Democratic challenger, San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez, in fund-raising.

Berman said he has raised $38,200 between April 1 and May 13, “mostly through personal solicitations.” He has $118,000 on hand, he said. Berman’s district includes most of the northeast Valley.

Godinez said he raised about $18,0000 over the same period and has $11,000 on hand.

In the race to represent the congressional district that includes Glendale, Pasadena and Burbank, Democratic challenger Barry Gordon, an attorney and actor, raised $36,423 in the most recent funding period, according to campaign records. He has $36,012 on hand.

First-term Rep. James Rogan (R-Pasadena) could not be reached, but in the previous funding period--Jan. 1 to March 31--he held a large fund-raising lead over Gordan with $107,578 raised.