Updated at 7 a.m. Saturday
Politicians, big businesses and unions opened up their wallets in the past three months, making major contributions to the candidates vying to represent the Westside and the Hollywood area in the California Assembly.
In the latest reporting period that covers mid-March through May 19, current Assemblywoman Betsy Butler took a wide lead as the top spender, reporting $530,468, most of which was spent on printing campaign materials. She also took in the most donations, $369,356.06, leaving her with $184,205 in cash on hand.
Her major contributors this period include Anheuser-Bush Cos., Inc.; AT&T Inc.; PG&E; Political Action by Pest Control Operators; Mike Eng and the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, Inc.
Candidate Torie Osborn—who had outspent Butler by $28,679 in the last reporting period—spent $349,385 and raked in new contributions totaling $288,509.
Some of Osborn's top donors include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, David Geffen and director Rob Reiner.
She reported having the most cash on hand, $250,805.45.
Also on the ballot in the June 5 primary is Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, who continues to trail both female candidates. He collected a total of $106,454 in donations this period and spent $148,381.
Republican Brad Torgan will file a report electronically when he hits the secretary of state's fundraising threshold of $25,000.
Assemblywoman Butler is moving from her current district that covers much of the South Bay to the , which spans north to Agoura Hills, west to Santa Monica and east to Hollywood.
Since the airwaves belong to the people (not THE PEOPLE), shouldn't we force the fictional entities that license their use, to provide a fair percentage of air-time to political coverage and camapaign messages - thereby creating much less incentive to the legalized bribery known as "campaign finance"?
A few years back the "Liberty Hill" Foundation appears to have been invovled in the "contra" style operation at KPFK - the Pacifica radio station, here in LA. (I say "contra" because an earlier [Democratic Party] attempt to control and/or destroy the network - with trails leading back to the Voice of America, the Nation magazine and developer Alan Sagner - was repelled by the Pacifica Campaign, leading the network and KPFK to its greatest relevance and market-share, around the time of the recent attack on Iraq). Liberty Hill appears to have endorsed the efforts of the most conservative elements of Pacifica to take over the station and the Network. In the act of doing so, they engaged in BLATANT on-air violations of the elections rules, in multiple elections, with the assistance and connivance of some elements of Management and the Pacifica Executive leadership. They managed to steal the elections and the network - to the engrossment of their own airtime, but the dimishment of the audience to the point of irrelevance. BIG Osborn supporters like Dorothy Reik and Lila Garrett were deeply involved (Garrett herself was punished - briefly - for her on-air violations, prior to a campaign organized by Reik to return her to the air, in violation of the election rules).