5th District Candidates Set Record for Spending

The 11 candidates competing for the 5th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council reported Friday they have spent $1.4 million in total, shattering the record for a council race since the Ethics Commission began tracking campaign finances.

The previous spending mark for a council race, according to Ethics Commission records going back to 1989, was also in the 5th District, when a field of four candidates spent $1.1 million in the 1995 primary.

“Campaigns are just costing more and more all the time,” said Jill Barad, a Sherman Oaks political consultant running for the seat in Tuesday’s election. “The district has over 140,000 registered voters, and the question is how do you reach all of them.”

Candidates and ethics officials said the spending record in this year’s race appears to be a function of the unusually large field--the largest in a council race this year--and the fact that the 5th District, which extends from Westwood through Bel-Air to Van Nuys, is home to many of the city’s most affluent and politically active neighborhoods.

“Clearly the fact that there are a number of viable candidates is a factor,” said LeeAnn Pelham, executive director of the Ethics Commission.

With incumbent Mike Feuer running for city attorney, the pace for fund-raising for the council seat has been set by former federal prosecutor Jack Weiss, who raised $330,000 in contributions and matching funds and spent $305,900 as of the close of the reporting period Wednesday. Narrowing the gap was former state Sen. Tom Hayden, whose $171,000 loan to his campaign has helped him to raise $305,600 and spend $295,000 as of Wednesday.

Other top fund-raisers in the race include Westwood businessman Steve Saltzman, who has raised $240,700 in contributions and matching funds and has spent $258,100, including unpaid bills, and Laura Lake, who has raised $183,600 in contributions and matching funds and has spent $131,400.