Council Runoff Candidates’ War Chests Mismatched

City Council candidate Greig Smith is winning the fund-raising race in his bid to represent the northwest San Fernando Valley after raising almost $220,000 since January, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday for the Los Angeles spring runoff elections.

During the same time period, Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein, Smith’s opponent for the 12th District seat, raised $49,704 and lent herself $22,000.

As the May 20 election approaches, Smith has $93,508 in cash on hand and Korenstein has $38,787.

Meanwhile, Deron Williams, a top aide to outgoing Councilman Nate Holden, has raised $170,810 in his effort to succeed his boss in the Mid-City 10th District seat. His opponent, former legislative aide Martin Ludlow, has raised $135,580 since January.

Williams ended the fund-raising period with $59,125 in cash on hand, while Ludlow had $43,761.

However, outside groups -- most of them labor unions -- have spent more than $225,000 in separate campaigns to help elect Ludlow, former political director of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. No independent expenditure campaigns on behalf of Williams have been filed with the city.

In the race for the Los Angeles Board of Education’s 5th District, incumbent David Tokofsky was the fund-raising leader with $540,000. His opponent, Nellie Rios-Parra, raised $154,021, including $50,000 from Coalition for Kids, a political action committee financed by former Mayor Richard Riordan and billionaire Eli Broad.