Garcetti raises a pint, Greuel cheers marathoners; both court endorsements

The mayoral candidates spent the weekend pressing the flesh and raising cash. City Controller Wendy Greuel was seen at the L.A. Marathon, being interviewed alongside termed-out Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt. City Councilman Eric Garcetti hoisted a Guinness while toasting Los Angeles during a St. Patrick’s Day bash at Tom Bergin’s on Fairfax.

Garcetti picked up the endorsement of former mayoral candidate Emanuel Pleitez on Saturday outside the Derby Dolls’ roller derby rink. Greuel picked up the nod of EMILY’S List, a fundraising organization devoted to electing pro-choice Democratic women. But two of the biggest endorsements remain in play -– Republican attorney Kevin James and Councilwoman Jan Perry, who effectively tied for third in the mayoral primary, and whose supporters would be a major boon to Greuel’s or Garcetti’s chances in the May 21 runoff.

Team Garcetti is also piqued by the continued airing of an anti-Garcetti ad by a pro-Greuel independent committee that is largely supported by a union that represents many workers from the city’s Department of Water and Power. A flurry of Garcetti fundraising pleas have gone out in recent days, with subject lines such as “Fed up,” “I’m tired of this,” and “Enough is enough.”

Whoever is elected mayor, the city’s next chief executive will have a new quandary to face because of billionaire Philip Anschutz’s decision not to sell Anschutz Entertainment Group and company Chief Executive Tim Leiweke’s departure from the firm: how to upgrade the city’s Convention Center in case plans for developing a downtown football stadium fall apart.

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