The midyear fundraising statements from three candidates for the L.A. County 5th District supervisorial race indicate two clear leaders: incumbent Kathryn Barger and Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena.
Barger enjoyed relatively large margins of victory in her last two elections, winning in 2016 over Pasadena Democrat Darrell Park in 2016 by almost 18%, and then garnered almost the same amount against Park again in the March primary four years later (58.7%), negating a runoff in November due to a change in state law.
One thing is certain so far: The Pasadena assemblyman has been much more successful at fundraising than the Pasadena environmentalist ever was, which could make for a much tighter race in the Fifth District for 2024.
Based on the Form 460’s filed with the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Holden raised just over $688,000, including a little over $5,000 in nonmonetary contributions and $20,000 in loans. (His fundraising total for the first six months has more than tripled the total fundraising efforts of Park’s 2020 total of about $135,000.) About $280,000 of his total came from transfers via the Holden for Assembly campaign.
Holden comes from a longstanding family in L.A. politics, the son of Nate Holden, who served as a member of the L.A. City Council and the state Senate. Chris Holden terms out of the Legislature at the end of next year after 12 years in Sacramento.
The firm his district office referred questions to for his campaign did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Barger reported the largest cash balance on hand as of June 30, the filing deadline, after raising $595,864 in the first six months of 2023, including $20,000 in loans and no nonmonetary contributions.
“I truly appreciate the support I have received across the board from our Fifth District community,” Barger said. “Many of my supporters do not regularly give to political campaigns, which makes reaching this amount at this time all the more special. I am very grateful that so many of our neighbors have invested in our campaign.”
That total added to $99,377 leftover from the previous year’s total for a total of $660,997 after deducting expenditures. Holden reported having a net balance of $604,263 for the same period.
The third candidate is Konstantine Anthony, who currently serves as the mayor of Burbank, but has been seen at several recent events in the Santa Clarita Valley as he tries to get his name better known in the North County region.
Anthony reported raising just over $40,000 on his Form 460, including $5,000 in loans and no nonmonetary contributions. His ending cash-on-hand balance for the period was a little over $26,000.
“As the progressive grassroots candidate in this race, I am the only candidate that doesn’t take donations from corporations, corporate PACs, real estate interests, fossil fuel executives or police associations,” Anthony wrote in a statement emailed to The Signal on Thursday.
The next reporting deadline for campaign finance in L.A. County is Dec. 31.
