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Candidates for mayor have now raised $7 million in contributions for the upcoming battle of the airwaves, and have accepted another $2 million in public matching funds. They filed reports yesterday that cover activity the first three weeks of January and summarize where things stand. Mayor Hahn is still far ahead, of course, but Antonio Villaraigosa crept a little closer.
Here's what they say they had in the bank (as of Jan. 22) to buy TV and radio ads and fill your mailboxes with glossy hit pieces. Go to the Ethics Commission website and you can poke around for all the details.
Hahn: $2,461,769
Villaraigosa: $1,681,266
Hertzberg: $1,573,788
Parks: $436,788
Alarcon: $355,912
Moore: $90,998
Parks took in the most in the first January period, but he's still well behind the front-running trio. The numbers aren't exactly encouraging for Hertzberg. He's the guy who has to spend more than Hahn or Villaraigosa just to educate voters who he is and what he stands for, but his pace of contributions slowed this period (though still bettered Hahn.) Neither the Times nor the Daily News address in Friday's stories how the campaign limits imposed in exchange for matching funds affected January fundraising. Incidentally, not counting his own money, Moore has taken in a total of $2,928 from potential supporters.