Elections 2009

He's just 26 and making his first election bid in a crowded field of candidates that includes two seasoned, well-financed officeholders -- just the sort of hopeful who usually gets lost in the pack. But Emanuel Pleitez has collected enough money -- much of it in online donations from across the nation -- to put on a substantive mail campaign, bolstered by an energetic staff of young volunteers.

A new campaign mailer from City Councilman Jack Weiss, a city attorney candidate, sparked unusually heated criticism from several of his council colleagues Tuesday with the election just three weeks away. The brochure sent to voters early this month became the source of whispered conversations on the council floor in City Hall as colleagues passed around copies.

The campaign for a new solar energy ballot measure in Los Angeles has raised more than $267,000, nearly two-thirds of it from groups affiliated with the union that represents Department of Water and Power employees, according to a report released Wednesday. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18 provided $50,000 for the campaign supporting Measure B, a proposal on the March 3 ballot to add 400 megawatts of solar panels throughout Los Angeles by 2014.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa raised $1.6 million for his 2009 reelection campaign in the first half of the year, a sizable bundle of cash in a race where, so far, the first-term mayor faces no well-funded challengers. Villaraigosa raised the vast majority of the money during a fundraising tear in June, when he held more than a dozen events and hopscotched across the country, according to campaign finance reports filed Thursday with the city Ethics Commission.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and three City Council members have thrown their support behind a proposal to install enough rooftop solar panels on buildings across the city to power 100,000 residential customers of the Department of Water and Power by 2013. The proposal, which would appear on the March 3 ballot, was developed by Working Californians, a pro-labor advocacy group with strong ties to the union that represents DWP workers.

Whether next spring's Los Angeles mayoral race is a lively contest or a walkover for incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa may depend on the decision of one man: shopping mall magnate Rick Caruso. Having spent his summer flirting with the idea of running for mayor, Caruso has until the Nov. 8 filing deadline to commit to a campaign. The man who gave Los Angeles the upscale shopping mecca the Grove has been consulting with political advisors and is expected to announce a decision next week.

One of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's close allies at the Department of Water and Power said Monday he would run for city controller, even though the mayor is already backing another candidate. DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras said he would seek the office occupied by Laura Chick, who will be forced out by term limits. Patsaouras, 64, will face Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, a longtime Villaraigosa supporter who has already raised $700,000 in her bid for the seat.

As the noon deadline passed Saturday for candidates to enter Los Angeles' mayoral, City Council and school board elections in March, several new names emerged in various races, but there were no major surprises. In a contest likely to foreshadow coming battles on the Board of Education, the field to replace Westside school board member Marlene Canter will include charter-school advocates, teachers and parents.

California gamblers would win tens of thousands more prizes from the state lottery and potentially bigger jackpots under a measure proposed to go before voters as soon as next year. The two pieces of legislation, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday, would also allow the state to borrow $5 billion against future sales of lottery tickets to help plug a budget hole that analysts say could total $27.8 billion during the next 20 months.

The March 3 race to replace Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss is shaping up as a close contest, with six candidates almost evenly matched in their fundraising, according to campaign finance reports turned in this week. In a Westside district stretching from Westwood to Sherman Oaks, former Weiss aide Adeena Bleich reported that she has raised roughly $199,000, more than her opponents.