Cash pours in for LA mayoral candidate as heated race enters final stretch

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Los Angeles’ mayoral race has turned into a multimillion-dollar mudslinging match, with deep-pocketed unions, wealthy donors and police groups flooding the airwaves with ads ahead of Election Day.

Outside groups are spending big to boost challenger Nithya Raman and tear into Mayor Karen Bass, turning the Nov. 3 showdown into an expensive battle over homelessness, public safety and the city’s future.

The biggest spender so far is a committee backing Raman, bankrolled largely by organized labor and a wealthy hedge fund manager.

The Western States Regional Council of Carpenters had raised more than $10 million for its Estamos Con Nithya committee by Thursday.

Hedge fund manager Aaron Sosnick, who has a Reno address and has pushed to expand LA’s bike-lane network, accounted for $6 million of that sum.

Raman has another outside ally in Streets for All, a transportation advocacy group that has spent $1.1 million on digital ads blasting Bass over homelessness, the Palisades fire and other issues. Ethics Commission figures show much of the group’s funding came from Sosnick and two real estate developers.

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Bass’ backers have countered with their own pricey campaign. A committee sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Protective League has spent nearly $4.8 million on ads attacking Raman, including over her opposition to a law barring homeless encampments near schools.

The mayor has also received outside support from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and regional building-trade unions.

The spending war comes as the candidates’ own fundraising totals tell a somewhat different story. Bass has raised about $3.4 million overall, compared with Raman’s $3 million, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

But Raman has nearly $1.4 million left to spend, roughly twice Bass’ available cash.

For the month ending Oct. 17, Bass collected $827,000 in contributions and taxpayer matching funds, while Raman brought in $485,000.

Both candidates face a $1,800 limit on individual donations, but independent expenditure committees can collect unlimited contributions as long as they do not coordinate with the campaigns they support.

The costly clash comes amid widespread frustration with LA, according to a California Post-McLaughlin & Associates poll. More than two-thirds of respondents, 66.2%, said the city was headed in the wrong direction, compared with just 16.4% who believed it was on the right track.

Homelessness topped voters’ concerns, cited by 47.3% of respondents, followed by the cost of living at 41.7% and housing costs at 35.4%.

The poll also found that 71.7% disapproved of Bass’ job performance, while 25.5% approved. Among registered Democrats, 65.5% disapproved.

Raman led Bass in the head-to-head survey, 46.7% to 38.8%, with 13.5% undecided.