Gene MaddausMayoral candidate Eric Garcetti announced this morning that he has raised $2.2 million, planting his fundraising flag in advance of next week's reporting deadline.
Garcetti'is top rival, Wendy Greuel, may not file her report until Monday. They were essentially tied at the Dec. 31 deadline, and Greuel's camp said their total will be “competitive” with Garcetti's figure.
Garcetti raised $1.1 million in the last six months. Councilwoman Jan Perry also reported today that she had raised $1.2 million overall, including $327,000 over the last six months.
With $1.8 million in the bank, Garcetti now has roughly enough to run two TV spots.
“Our goal here is to be as strong as we possibly can be,” says Garcetti's consultant, Bill Carrick. “We need to work hard at expanding the universe beyond the regular donors and reaching out to new donors.”
Scanning through the list contributors, it appears that Hollywood likes Garcetti, especially the TV folks. Contributors include one James Kimmel, listed as a “TV Show Host”; Adam Carolla, “TV Personality”; producer Steven Bochco, and David Nevins, the CEO of Showtime.
President Garcetti; Credit: USA Network
On that subject, is it just a coincidence that the USA Network has a series on which the fictional president is named Paul Garcetti?
Franklin Avenue raised this issue a few weeks ago, and got this answer from the show's executive producer, Laurence Mark: “Oh gosh, seriously, literally it never crossed our mind.”
OK, just checking.
Garcetti also brought in a lot of money from developers and attorneys.
Perry hasn't posted her donor list yet. Also in the running is ex-radio host Kevin James. We haven't heard from him yet.
The primary is in March.
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