L.A. on the Record: Kevin de León raised more money this quarter than nearly any other city candidate

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Julia Wick, with help from Dakota Smith.

Raising the most money doesn’t guarantee an L.A. City Council win. But it can certainly help.

The latest tranche of city fundraising numbers dropped this week, providing a fresh window into the candidates’ war chests and support networks.

When Councilmember Kevin de León announced his campaign for another term last month, many political watchers wondered whether last year’s racist tape scandal might keep potential backers from writing checks. De León faced down months of protests for his participation in the secretly recorded conversation, and President Joe Biden joined the calls for his resignation last year.

Just 10 days after De León launched his bid, his campaign put out a news release, saying it had “already amassed a staggering $118,000 in donations by his first filing period.” That hardly put the doubts to rest, with some, like Unrig LA founder Rob Quan, speculating about the possibility of “cute math.”

The latest filings, which cover the period from July 1 to Sept. 30, reveal that De León did raise $117,285 — an astonishing sum to have gathered in just 10 days and a reminder that, regardless of what you might read on social media, De León has a real shot at holding on to his seat.

Supporters included Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who donated through a campaign committee; former Councilmember Dennis Zine; lawyer Mark Geragos (whose firm is representing De León in a lawsuit over the leaked tape); and former Councilmember Gil Cedillo and former County Labor Federation chief Ron Herrera, who both appeared on the tape with De León.

De León raised more money than any other city candidate during this quarter, save for his ally-turned-opponent Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, who surpassed De León by $880.

Also in the Council District 14 race: Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo brought in more than $64,000 this quarter, and tenant advocate Ysabel Jurado raised nearly $32,000. Both were topped by attorney Teresa Hillery, a lesser-known candidate who brought in more than $73,000 — though $40,000 of that sum came from a personal loan to her campaign.

Looking beyond this quarterly filing, Santiago remains by far the lead fundraiser in the race, having brought in more than $360,000 since launching his campaign in April.

There are six other council races, many of which are crowded, so we won’t go through all the totals (you can find that on the City Ethics site) ... But here are a few interesting tidbits:

Three powerful and deep-pocketed Silicon Valley donors — Patty Quillin (wife of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings), Kaitlyn Krieger (wife of Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger) and Liz Simons (who hosted President Biden for a fundraiser at her Atherton home last month) — all maxed out to two City Council candidates, raising questions about whether they might go big with independent expenditures for either race.

The trio donated to Council District 10 candidate Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (who is running in a crowded race for a seat currently held by appointed Councilmember Heather Hutt) and Santiago in CD 14.

An email to their Smart Justice California fund asking to discuss their potential involvement in the races was not returned. The fund also maxed out to both candidates. ($900 is the max that can be given to a candidate’s official account per election, but independent expenditures have no such limits.)

Mayor Karen Bass donated to two candidates through her congressional committee, giving $900 to both Hutt and Marqueece Harris-Dawson in Council District 8.

Ana Guerrero, who was chief of staff to former Mayor Eric Garcetti, spread the love to four different council candidates, donating $131.41 to former Garcetti commissioner Aura Vasquez in CD 10, $125 to Hutt, $125 to Manny Gonez and $250 to Adrin Nazarian. (Gonez and Nazarian are both vying to succeed Council President Paul Krekorian in Council District 2.)

State of play

— PRICE ARRAIGNMENT: Councilmember Curren Price‘s arraignment was delayed until December after a brief court hearing Friday morning. His attorneys have filed papers arguing prosecutors failed to show that payments from housing developers to a consulting company owned by Price’s wife, Del Richardson Price, had any influence on Price’s votes.

— GLOBAL LOCAL POLITICS: The attack on Israel, and how to respond to it, has roiled several local races, including Council District 4, where Ethan Weaver sharply critiqued his opponent Councilmember Nithya Raman over statements made by the Democratic Socialists, who endorsed her campaign. Raman, who was among the first at City Hall to condemn what she called “the horrific violence by Hamas,” later criticized the DSA statement.

— LEAK INVESTIGATION: The Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation into last year’s incendiary audio leak focuses on two former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor employees who now face potential felony eavesdropping charges. Prosecutors sent the case back to Los Angeles police for “further investigation” last week because of shortcomings in the police’s initial investigation, according to two law enforcement sources.

— A DIFFICULT ANNIVERSARY: Monday marked one year since the leaked tape upended local politics. Former Councilmember Mike Bonin — whose young Black son was the subject of racist venom in the leaked conversation — wrote a searing essay about his own experiences and his wish that the national conversation had put more attention on “the obstacles and risks Black children face.”

— KDL PROFILE: My colleagues Brittny Mejia and David Zahniser took an in-depth look at De León’s trajectory over the last year — his effort to claw his way out of political purgatory, his gradual reemergence at City Hall, his bid to win back the support of his constituents.

— HOUSING FALLOUT: My colleague Liam Dillon delves into the ongoing disarray caused by the collapse of Skid Row Housing Trust, once the largest landlord of last-resort housing in the neighborhood at the epicenter of L.A.’s homelessness crisis.

— ANOTHER LAPD SCANDAL: High-ranking Los Angeles Police Department official Al Labrada has been demoted and is facing the possibility of termination after being accused of stalking a fellow officer with whom he was romantically involved, even as San Bernardino County prosecutors announced they would not file criminal charges in the case.

— CONTROLLER SUPPORT: City Controller Kenneth Mejia made his first City Council endorsement of the cycle, backing leftist candidate Jillian Burgos in Council District 2.

— ETHICS COMMISSION: The appointment of Rabbi Aryeh Cohen, Mejia’s second nominee to the City Ethics Commission, was unanimously approved by the council. Mejia’s previous nominee, Jamie York, was rejected by the council.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s program to combat homelessness went into Koreatown and surrounding neighborhoods, targeting such locations as Lafayette Park, the streets that surround Virgil Middle School and Hoover Street at the 101 Freeway. During the operation, outreach workers moved more than 100 people off the street and into motels or other types of temporary housing, according to the mayor’s office.

• On the docket for next week: There will be no council meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday, with some members traveling to Washington with the mayor to meet with senior members of the Biden Administration and members of Congress.