Los Angeles City Council member Tracy Park has raised more than $1.2 million for her re-election campaign in the city’s June 2 primary, more than double the amount raised by challenger Faiza Malik, according to finance reports filed this week.
Malik, a civil rights attorney, has reported raising about $454,000 in his bid for the District 11 seat, which borders the Westside, including Mar Vista, Pacific Palisades, Venice and Westchester, reports show.
At nearly $1.7 million, the money raised in the race is the most for eight of the 15 total council seats on the June 2 primary ballot. Whichever candidate wins a majority in the election will win the seat outright, otherwise the top two vote-getters will compete in the November 3 general election.
Two of the eight races are open seats to replace deposed incumbents, and in five other races, incumbents Eunice Hernandez, Park, Hugo Soto-Martinez, Tim McCosker and Katy Yaroslavsky have held large fundraising leads against their challengers. Monica Rodriguez, an outgoing council member, is running unopposed.
In the West San Fernando Valley’s 3rd District, three candidates are seeking to replace ousted Council Member Bob Blumenfield.
Insurance company founder Tim Gaspar was the leader in fundraising, raising a reported $430,000. Barry Worth Girvan, an aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, has raised about $235,000. Tech entrepreneur Christopher Robert “CR” Celona was close behind with about $12,300.
In Council District 1, which includes Highland Park and Pico-Union, incumbent Hernandez topped the field with nearly $319,000 in contributions. Challenger Maria Lou Calanche, the former Los Angeles Police Commissioner, reported raising about $182,000.
Among other challengers in the race, Sylvia Robledo, a small business owner and longtime City Council aide, reported nearly $75,000 in contributions. Raul Claros, founder of a nonprofit called California Rising, listed contributions of $70,500 and entrepreneur Nelson Grande reported raising about $55,000.
Six candidates are competing to replace incumbent Curran Price in the 9th District, which includes USC and communities along the Harbor Freeway corridor.
Price’s former deputy chief of staff, Jose Ugarte, led the field in reported financial contributions by raising $477,000.
Estuardo Mazariegos, head of the Coalition of Californians for Community Empowerment of Los Angeles, reported nearly $200,000 in contributions and Elmer Roldan, a nonprofit director who has raised about $114,000.
Entrepreneur George Nuno and physician Martha Sanchez followed with $25,000 and $13,000, respectively. Teacher Jorge Hernandez Rojas reported no contributions.
In other castes:
- Yaroslavsky reported raising about $431,000 for his 5th District seat, which includes Westwood, Palms and Hancock Park. Neither of his rivals, Henry Mantel and Morgan Oyler, reported raising more than $35,000.
- McCoskar reported raising 242,000 for his 15th District seat in San Pedro. Challenger Jordan Rivers, a community organizer, told The Times that he did not raise any money.
- Soto-Martinez reported raising more than $170,000. The three challengers in the race – Colter Carlisle, Dylan Kendall and Rich Sarian – raised a reported $152,000 combined.
The outcome of the Park-Malik contest in District 11 will be determined in the June 2 primary because there are only two candidates in the race.
In a statement, Councilmember Park credited the raising of funds to his efforts to clear out homeless encampments.
“I raised historic numbers of donations from local Westside residents because I’ve been on the ground since day one to solve our number one priority: getting people off the streets into housing and treatment and removing dangerous encampments from our neighborhoods,” Park said. “Residents, workers and visitors all notice the difference.”
Kendall Mayhew, communications director for Malik’s campaign, said in a statement that Park and her supporters are spending unprecedented money because “we’re winning and they don’t know what else to do.”
Mayhew said, “What our campaign has demonstrated so far, and what we will demonstrate at the ballot box in just a few weeks, is that corporate money cannot defeat an honest, people-driven campaign.”
The fundraising totals reported this week represent money given by individual donors, who are limited to contributions of no more than $1,000 this election cycle. Although the report takes a look at fundraising, money is also coming through independent expenditures, with no limits on how much can be given.
For example, in District 1, the LA County Federation of Labor has reportedly spent more than $226,000 supporting Hernandez. Calanche is also getting support funding: The Fix Los Angeles PAC supporting Calanche, Ugarte and Parks for City Council 2026 has spent nearly $46,000 on its campaign to unseat Hernandez.
