March was a happily green month for half of the City Council candidates in next week’s election — and the shimmering emerald had nothing to do with either St. Patrick’s Day or the environment.
As one of the only remotely promising gauges of interest in the election — that concludes next Tuesday — the sharp spike in the dollar derby suggests interest is awakening in a voting community long branded lethargic.
With race favorite Andy Weissman spearheading the charge on Culver City pocketbooks, four contenders collected between $13,000 and $15,000, an uncommonly ripe harvest, during the latest 30-day financial reporting period, ending March 22:
Mr. Weissman, $15,194
Mehaul O’Leary, $14,480.75
Jeff Cooper, $13,500
Christopher Armenta, $13,390
Mr. Weissman and Mr. Armenta have proven muscular fundraisers from the beginning.
The most pleasant surprises in March were provided by Mr. O’Leary and Mr. Cooper, who enjoyed bumper crop months. Both doubled their previous totals. Each candidate was hovering in the $7,000 range when the 30-day period began.
Seven of the nine candidates for three open Council seats filed their financial reports.
Cary Anderson, who collected $1,000 during the first reporting period this year, and Randy Scott Leslie, who did not report any contributions for the previous period, did not submit documents to the City Clerk’s office.
Alone among the remaining seven, Gary Russell did not receive any contributions.
Meanwhile, Mr. Weissman, as the election favorite, solidified his frontrunner status in two crucial categories:
Cash on Hand — $26,631
Contributions for the Calendar Year — $42,599
In both categories, Mr. Armenta is the distant runnerup.
Widely viewed as the likely No. 2 votegetter, Mr. Armenta reported:
Cash on Hand — $15,703
Contributions for the Calendar Year — $28,655
Mr. O’Leary, Mr. Cooper and Dr. Luther Henderson are locked into a close race as the Nos. 3,4 and 5 fundraisers:
Mr. O’Leary — $21,421
Mr. Cooper — $20,628.19
Dr. Henderson — $19,785
A longtime Los Angeles City College professor of music and humanities, Dr. Henderson did not have a bad March, raising $7,760, fifth best in the field.
In the important Cash on Hand category, he leads most of his rivals, ranking third, as of March 22, with $11,235.38.
Dr. Henderson lists $12,581 in expenditures and $10,000 worth of debt.
By contrast, Mr. O’Leary — with $9,904 on hand — shows $30,019 in expenditures and $15, 718 in debt.
Mr. Cooper has $5,345 on hand, less than most of his rivals. But he has no debts after listing $17,614 in expenditures.
After raising $3,030 during the reporting period, for a grand total of $5,300, Loni Anderson shows expenditures of $3,043, debts of $1,853 and $4,110 on hand.