Fundraising fizzles for Shyne’s congressional campaign

Mayor Sepi Shyne received a paltry $18,803 in campaign contributions this quarter according to her latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, a sign that her race for Congress may be in peril.

Shyne’s receipts were the lowest of the nine major candidates hoping to replace U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff next year — even lower than the group’s lone Republican, Dr. Alex Balekian. Her dismal haul represents a massive dropoff from the impressive $216,504.48 she raised in the previous reporting period, which ended June 30.

The FEC filings, which catalog in explicit detail funds received, spent and saved from July 1 through Sept. 30, offer the clearest idea yet of which candidates have the best chance of representing West Hollywood and the others cities of California’s 30th Congressional District on Capitol Hill.

THE CANDIDATES

The FEC currently lists 20 candidates who have filed to compete in the race, 15 Democrats, 1 independent and 5 Republicans. This article focuses on the nine candidates viewed as most competitive in the race i.e. those who have raised the most money. Those candidates are marked with a 🔹 below.

Francesco Arreaga	Democrat
🔹 Dr. Alex Balekian	Republican
Josh Bocanegra	Independent
Drew Michael Britton	Democrat
Mike Castellanos	Democrat
Stephen Andrae’ Dunwoody	Democrat
🔹 Mike Feuer	Democrat
🔹 Laura Friedman	Democrat
Patrick Lee Gipson	Republican
Sarah Idan	Democrat
Ronda Kennedy	Republican
J. Emilio Martinez	Republican
🔹 Nick Melvoin	Democrat
Courtney Simone Najera	Democrat
🔹 Anthony Portantino	Democrat
🔹 G Maebe Pudlo	Democrat
🔹 Jirair Ratevosian	Democrat
🔹 Ben Savage	Democrat
Eric Richard Sawchuk	Republican
🔹 Sepi Shyne	Democrat

WHO RAISED THE MOST MONEY?

Ben Savage’s campaign reported the highest cash haul ($262,142.56) this period, most of which came from a donation of $250,000 he made to himself. That’s separate from the 14 massive personal loans he’s made to his campaign totaling $877,000 since February.

State Sen. Anthony Portantino remains the race’s top fundraiser, adding $219,500.77 in contributions this period for an election cycle total of $1,283,295.91. Right behind Portantino in the total-funds-raised rankings is former L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer ($1,109,909.90), followed by L.A.U.S.D. Boardmember Nick Melvoin ($940,980.61) and State Assemblymember Laura Friedman ($778,399.50). Despite this period’s disappointing funds raised, Shyne remains the fifth-highest fundraiser with $333,235.48 in receipts since the race’s beginning.

Overall contributions among all candidates decreased this period; only three of the nine raised more than they did April through June: Savage, Balekian and Maebe A. Girl (G. Pudlo).

WHO GAVE THEM MONEY?

Maebe A. Girl (G Pudlo) had contributions from 1,808 unique donors, the most in this reporting period.

Friedman had 263 total donors, 237 via ACT Blue, who contributed an average of $621.98 each for a total of $177,335.37. Ten of her donations came from CEOs, 12 from consultants, 22 from attorneys and 8 from real estate and builders. Friedman, a former film industry executive, also received 7 donations from producers, 6 from directors and 5 from writers.

Portantino is receiving substantial financial support from many big-name political action committees, including the American Hospital Association PAC, California Medical Association PAC, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail Transportation PAC, National Automobile Dealers Association, New York Life Insurance PAC, the United Food and Commercial Workers, Performance Racing Inc. PAC, American Dental PAC. He and Savage appear to be the only Democratic candidates not using ACT Blue.

Friedman and Portantino represent Glendale in the Assembly and state Senate, respectively. Friedman received 65 donations from Glendale addresses, while Portantino received 34.

Feuer, a fixture in City Hall and L.A. Superior Court from more than a decade, received 47 contributions from fellow attorneys.

Many of Melvoin’s donors hail from tech, real estate and media backgrounds (National Geographic, KB Homes, SoundCloud). His donations include 11 from CEOs, 31 from attorneys and several from film/TV producers such as Jena King and Dana Klein.

Eighteen of Shyne’s 56 donations came from people in West Hollywood, including friends and allies like Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson and County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, as well as Jonathan Wilson of the Social Justice Advisory Board and Andrew Solomon of the Public Facilities Commission.

Only two other donations to any of the candidates originated in WeHo —a $35 donation from Dalit Shlapobersky to Laura Friedman, and $250 to Jirair Ratovesian from Councilmember John Heilman.

THE TOP SPENDERS, AND WHAT THEY BOUGHT

Friedman was also the period’s top spender with $146,234.89 in disbursements, including $114,490.67 on consultants for fundraising, campaign strategy and digital.

Close behind was Melvoin with $138,721.21 in expenditures, including $20,000 on communications consultants, $35,926 on digital services and $30,000 on fundraising consultants.

Savage followed as the period’s third-biggest spender, with $120,426.20 earmarked for campaign and digital advertising consultants and canvassers. He also spent $8,637.62 on door hangers and yard signs and $8,400 on voter data.

Shyne spent $40,070.33 on campaign, digital and fundraising consultants, along with $6,965.90 on voter data.

CASH ON HAND

Cash on hand is the “magic number,” according to campaign finance gurus. It’s the figure that most accurately predicts the health of the campaign, they say, because it reveals the resources the candidate actually has to work with as the election draws closer.

For Shyne, it’s another red flag.

WeHo’s mayor was the only of the top nine candidates to report less cash on hand this quarter ($155,181.94) than in the previous ($186,170.54), a deficit of $30,988.60.

Portantino is the only candidate with more than $1 million in the bank, but Feuer and Savage both have more than $900,000 ready to spend as Election Day starts coming into view over the horizon.

In a testament to how expensive the race has become, Melvoin and Friedman are trailing their competitors even with $499,386.81 and $646,994.95, respectively, in cash on hand — the kind of budgets most political campaigns could only dream of.