Campaign finance reports for the WeHo City Council candidates are in, and the numbers augur an interesting picture of who’s ahead in the race five weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8 — and who might be falling behind.
The reports contain two important figures: 1) the amount raised in the reporting period, and 2) cash on hand (COH), the total funds the campaign has minus expenditures.
Robert Oliver remains the candidate with the most cash on hand with more than $92,000 in the bank. John Heilman is close behind with nearly $89,000. John Duran, Ben Savage and Chelsea Byers round out the top five candidates with the most COH.
Mayor Lauren Meister has slightly less than $37,000 in COH — a somewhat low figure for an incumbent. Meister, however, runs her campaign herself and has no expenditures.
While fundraising has slowed substantially for Oliver and Byers — Oliver raised just over $10,000 in the reporting period, while Byers raised just under $17,000 — they both have a lot of cash on hand and are likely counting on significant support from the UNITE HERE Local 11 independent expenditure committee.
Meanwhile, Duran raised upwards of $72,000, and Heilman nearly hit $40,000 in the reporting period.
Ben Savage and Steve Martin both took out loans to finance their campaigns. But while Savage has raised nearly $25,000, Martin has yet to crack the $14,000 mark.
Jordan Cockeram and Sarah Adolphson both have less than $4,000 in cash on hand, while Adam Darvish reported $0 in funds.
Many elections ago I composed my own experiment classifying the donors to particular candidates. It was very enlightening. Land, Heilman and another collected $250,000 each for a total of $750,000. Compared with a Be early Hills total of approximately $200,000.
Slush funds recorded with invisible ink.
Oops…that was Beverly Hills @ $200,000.
I urge everyone to dig deeper and follow the money. Simply click on the link in this article and do a search under names like Heilman or Duran and see for yourselves who are donating big money to their campaigns. Names like Illoulian and Mani. Take it a step further and google some of the other names to connect the dots. These people expect favors if they are elected. Their donations aren’t simply out of the goodness of their hearts. Developers and billboard companies are buying this election. Sadly, it’s pathetically legal.
Does it really count as “fundraising” when you just write yourself a $50,000 check?
Since there is a clear extreme-progressive slate of three choices, the rest of us really need to rally around 3 other specific alternatives to avoid a giant vote split that leaves them to win despite a low plurality. I think Lauren Meister and Sarah Adolphson could be candidates most people could rally around – open on the third spot and keep waffling between John Duran (hard to get past the old news stories despite him making a lot of sense in the forum) and Marquita Thomas (who seems halfway to the Oliver/Byers/Wright slate but not extreme on the funding for… Read more »
Ms. Adolphson has not presented evidence of a single effort that she devised and executed for the public good to establish her public service credentials. PR wishy, hopey statements do not qualify.
Count me out of your *rest of us.*
Help me understand why people want to be elected so badly that they take out loans to do it for a basically unpaid position? Gee, how do they ever reimburse themselves?? What’s in it for them? Things that make you go hmmmmm…
Maybe they love our city and are trying to do the right thing by becoming a public servant(?). There was a time when people did that…serve the public…without asking “what’s in it for me.” Hard to find those people these days. Shyne, Erickson and Horvath just want to make a name for themselves and move on to bigger political positions…much to our demise. Let’s hope Horvath loses the county seat and that she’ll disappear for a while (like a bad penny she is sure to pop up again) and let’s hope that Shyne and Erickson are a one and done… Read more »
People looking forward to a career of Public Service must bring expertise, integrity and good judgement to the table. No such thing in this instance.
We have term limits here. If you love being a public servant and adore politics, higher office is the answer.
Who are the idiots filling the coffers of these juvenile pretenders? Time to return to elementary school and study civics.
Union…Unite Here. The biggest threat to our city. They currently have control over it (via Shyne, Erickson and Horvath) and we can’t let them get any stronger.
Oliver is the biggest threat to our way of life in West Hollywood.
Let’s wipe that smarmy smile off his child’s face.
they are all strange. only bad choices.
Should we elect the ones with the most COH..or the ones wt the most workable ideas for the city? Always an American dilemma.
Let’s elect the ones who will represent the interests of West Hollywood residents. One can often connect dots to donors and where they live. Follow the money and you’ll find the special interests that often reside in far off lands.
You are surely kidding, Mr Cronin.
It is almost never an American dilemma.
We cannot let Oliver and Byers win a seat on the city Council. If you think things are bad now, just wait…
We just can not, you are 100% right. It will be an absolute disaster.