Ben Savage has sailed to the front of the pack in terms of fundraising for the race to become West Hollywood’s next member of Congress, largely on the strength of his personal fortune.
In Federal Elections Commission filings for the April 1-June 30 period, Savage reported $804,933 in total campaign contributions, almost double that of second-highest fundraiser state Sen. Anthony Portantino ($453,612). Most of Savage’s war chest comes from a personal loan he made to himself, leaving him with much work to do should he hope to recoup that cost.
Portantino’s haul came from upwards of 750 contributors, including major donors Southern California Pipe Trades District Council 16,
Blue Shield of CA PAC and Schoolsfirst FCU Employees Federal PAC.
The candidates with the most cash on hand are, in order, Portantino, Mike Feuer, Savage, LAUSD School Board Member Nick Melvoin, Assemblymember Laura Friedman and WeHo Mayor Sepi Shyne.
After a slow start, Shyne stepped up her game with $216,404 in contributions for the period. Large chunks of change came from the wealthy Persian community, while relatively few donations originated in West Hollywood. Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson, former Councilmember John D’Amico, and current WeHo commissioners and boardmembers Andrew Solomon, Danny Hang, Mark Yusupov, Anne-Marie Williams, Jonathan Wilson, Adam Darvish and Erick Matos all made contributions to her campaign.
| Total Contributions | |
|---|---|
| 1. Savage | $804,933.32 |
| 2. Portantino | $453,612.08 |
| 3. Feuer | $316,849.90 |
| 4. Friedman | $268,064.40 |
| 5. Melvoin | $229,900.31 |
| 6. Shyne | $216,504.48 |
| Total Spent | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1. Melvoin | $115,002.15 |
| 2. Friedman | $107,869.90 |
| 3. Shyne | $93,950.54 |
| 4. Feuer | $65,797.31 |
| 5. Portantino | $52,235.40 |
| 6. Savage | $35,722.11 |
| Cash on Hand | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1. Portantino | $974,929.52 |
| 2. Feuer | $880,602.53 |
| 3. Savage | $851,987.86 |
| 4. Melvoin | $632,493.50 |
| 5. Friedman | $468,786.33 |
| 6. Shyne | $186,170.54 |
It is a district-wide race, so her lack of support in WeHo is just par for the course.
And by the way, it’s really early, everybody.
Good job, Mr Garcia!
Mr. Savage is as qualified to be a member of Congress as any other person who has attained the age of 25. All other talk of qualifications or background is made-up bullpucky. Our founding gender-less parental units intended a government of citizen-legislators (largely drawn from the then agrarian economy) rather than the career politicians that now occupy the halls of the U.S. Capitol.
Anyone but Shyne. Anyone.
…except anyone who is also back by Unite Here 11.
We could just pick our congress people out of the phone book….and do better.
Savage’s claim to fame…..is that he was a child actor on a stupid show. Who cares what college you graduated from…if you don’t apply it towards something productive and gain real experience. That’s the whole point of college.
Look at our PhD Erickson (women studies) who has never had a real job.
Yes. Boy Meets Reality.
Mark Yusupov ran for city council once, and I voted for him. I see now that he has contributed to Shyne’s campaign. I would never vote for him again…ever.
I share the same sentiments. Really disappointing to see that he supports her.
What are Savage’s clear ideas and his proposal to legislate?
Any idea has to be better than the group think ideas that have controlled this city…and are ruining it.
Savage provides a lot of detail about his policy positions compared to many other candidates in the race.
https://savageforcongress.com/priorities
He presents details in a positive manner. No search for victimhood, martyrdom, or grievance.
I can answer that. His idea is if you throw lots of money around, cretins will respect you. And if you keep reminding people you attended Stanford, the cretins will think you
magically know how to negotiate with other elected officials. Hope that helps you. Oh, and when Hollywood doesn’t want you cause you’re no longer a perky child star, you start being delusional.
The fact that city commissioners and board members have contributed to Shyne’s campaign is hugely problematic. Why do I think she strong armed them to contribute? Pay to play. I understand this is conjecture, but the woman is uncouth and has a history of inappropriate behavior. Perhaps she cast a spell over them.
A trail of criminality and abuse behind her already. Just another coinci-dink!
Ben Savage is a Stanford grad and he’s not some political hack who have held public jobs and in the private sector would Some be hiof . He’s not a soothsayer like Sepi Shine. Let’s get over the fact that electing politicians to another high level job is a total farce. Most of these people are nothing more than political animals trying to crawl through life without ever having to do anything except right laws that mean absolutely nothing. I would vote for anyone except someone who’s in politics. Ask for Shyne, I don’t care if Persians are giving her… Read more »
Ben Savage–who received only a handful of votes in West Hollywood–is not qualified to make decisions on behalf of any community. Glad to see that Sepi Shyne is the bottom dog in the pack.
Why do we so often seem to have the worst candidates. Pampered TV boy thinks you go directly from the t.v. set to Congress, without being on a city commission, much less an actual council person. I would considered a rare reasonable republican over a guaranteed cretin.