Riordan, Garcetti Hold Wide Leads in Fund-Raising

With more than eight months to go before the next municipal election--and with no firm opponent yet in sight--Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan already has collected $2.1 million toward his April 8 reelection bid, documents released Wednesday show.

Riordan’s most closely watched potential challenger, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), reported raising just over $7,000--and of that, $5,000 came from his own funds.

Several other early challengers eyeing city offices in next spring’s elections also have been busily knocking on contributors’ doors, according to the semiannual campaign finance reports filed with the city Ethics Commission.

For example, Councilman Marvin Braude, a 30-year incumbent who faces multiple challengers in his 11th District, reported raising $19,200 during the recent six-month period, while challenger Cindy Miscikowski, Braude’s former chief deputy, raised $74,000 and Georgia Mercer, a former Riordan aide, collected $47,700.

Braude’s campaign consultant, Steve Afriat, said the councilman has not put all his efforts into fund-raising.

City Atty. James K. Hahn’s report had not been filed by the close of business Wednesday, but his challenger, Riordan confidant Ted Stein, earlier reported collecting $570,000.

The reports, required of candidates who raise at least $1,000, were to be postmarked Wednesday; a few came in earlier, while others may not arrive at commission offices for a few more days, officials said. The current reports cover the six-month period from Jan. 1 through June 30.

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Elections are scheduled for eight of the 15 City Council seats and for city controller in addition to mayor and city attorney. In most races without early challengers, fund-raising activities are not yet in high gear.

But Riordan, trying to discourage competitors by demonstrating support through fund-raising prowess, has been at it for more than a year, starting with a series of breakfast sessions in the spring of 1995. By the close of 1995, Riordan had raised almost $1.2 million, and his most recent report showed he had added an additional $905,000.

In the crowded 1993 contest for mayor, Riordan, a multimillionaire lawyer and entrepreneur, put $6 million of his own money into the $8.5-million campaign--a city record--to win his first bid for public office.

This year’s fund-raising has been done without Riordan digging into his own pockets--a gambit, insiders said, to show he has enough support to win without his personal fortune.

The list of contributors “is quite a testament to the job the mayor has done,� said Bill Wardlaw, Riordan’s longtime friend and closest political advisor. He said a close study of the latest, 255-page campaign finance report would show that more than $55,000 of the contributions come from African Americans--a group the white Republican mayor has generally failed to win over, according to the Times Poll. Some black political leaders have been among the mayor’s harshest critics.

Wardlaw said the mayor has raised more than $100,000 from Latinos and a similar amount from Asian Americans. He also collected about $50,000 from labor leaders, Wardlaw said. City employee groups have repeatedly tangled with Riordan over proposals to turn city jobs over to private contractors.

“There is quite an amazing cross-section, of which we are very, very proud,� Wardlaw said.

The list of about 1,500 contributors includes attorneys, business concerns--from real estate developers to entertainment industry moguls--and some Riordan appointees to city commissions. Actor Alan Alda and his wife, Arlene, contributed, as did former cowboy star and businessman Gene Autry. Film and television star Don Johnson gave $500. Director Steven Spielberg, one of a triumvirate of moguls working with the city to build the Dreamworks entertainment complex in Playa del Rey, contributed $1,000, the limit for individuals.

Many of the contributions came from a series of fund-raising events, including a Feb. 29 campaign kickoff dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel, a Latinos-for-Riordan gathering at the Biltmore and a private-home fund-raiser by gay and lesbian Riordan supporters in May, and a cocktail party hosted by Wardlaw at his Pasadena home earlier this summer.

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Hayden, by contrast, has spent very little time raising money for a possible bid for mayor. Spokeswoman Patricia Shin said he wants to get his Senate reelection campaign out of the way in November before turning his attention to the mayor’s race.

She emphasized that Hayden has not yet made up his mind about a Riordan challenge. He is currently in escrow on a home within city boundaries--he now lives in Santa Monica--but added he wants to move into the city regardless of whether he decides to challenge Riordan.

Hayden also apparently has not spent much fund-raising effort on his Senate race either, according to documents on file with the state. Those documents show he has raised about $8,000 in recent months for a race most expect he will win handily against Republican Scott Schreiber.

Shin said Hayden has recently received some contributions that came in after the June 30 end of this reporting period, and plans a fund-raiser Sunday. “But he is interested in campaign finance reform and he is not about raising a lot of money from special interests,� Shin added.

Times staff writers Hugo Martin and Jodi Wilgoren contributed to this story.

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Sample L.A. Campaign Costs

* TV, radio advertising: $600,000 for 13 spots (nine TV and four radio)

* Campaign mailer: $67,500 to reach 150,000 registered-voter households

* Signs/outdoor displays: $5,000 to $15,000

* Research: $25,000 for telephone surveys

* Voter contact: $75,000 to reach 150,000 registered-voter households

Source: Allan Hoffenblum, political consultant