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Jack Klunder, the president of the Los Angeles News Group and publisher of most if not all of the chain's newspapers, is not a voter in the city of Los Angeles. But he has given $750 to mayoral candidate Kevin James, in three separate contributions since 2011, and also reportedly provided him with tickets to Lakers, Dodgers and Kings games. Klunder tells the LA Times that his contributions will not play into endorsements by the papers. Last year Klunder gave $500 to the campaign of Austin Beutner, who dropped out of the race.
Klunder is publisher of the Daily News and Daily Breeze, which cover the mayoral campaign and circulate in the city, and of seven other LANG papers, including the Pasadena Star-News and Long Beach Press-Telegram. A former Times circulation executive, Klunder became president of the chain last year.
Bigger news involving James is that Harold Simmons, the conservative Texas billionaire who calls President Barack Obama "the most dangerous American alive," upped his ante to the so-called independent expenditure committee promoting James to $600,000.
