Gilbert L Garcetti

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has amassed a fund-raising edge of 65 to 1 over challenger John Lynch, according to campaign disclosure forms made public Wednesday. As of June 30, according to the forms, Garcetti had stockpiled $507,740 in the bank. Lynch, a deputy district attorney who heads the office's Norwalk branch, had $7,858 on hand.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti maintains a sizable cash advantage over his five challengers in the March 26 primary election, according to campaign finance statements due Thursday in the Los Angeles County registrar's office. Garcetti, seeking a second term, received $45,075 in cash contributions for the reporting period that ran from Jan. 1 through Feb. 10. After paying various expenses, his campaign's cash on hand totaled $936,310, down slightly from the $944,881 with which it ended 1995.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, battling five challengers and an embarrassing string of losses in high-profile murder cases, prepared Tuesday for a possible runoff election in November. Likewise, Board of Supervisors candidate Don Knabe seemed unable to parlay his anointing by retiring 4th District Supervisor Deane Dana into an outright victory. Instead, he appeared headed for a fall runoff against former Rolling Hills Mayor Gordana Swanson.

There's anger out there and it's vast and deep, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti mused as the election returns trickled in. "Anger with one or two cases," he said at his Westchester campaign rally, a reference mostly to the O.J. Simpson double murder trial. "I'm even getting blamed for the Baldwin case," he said. When actor Alec Baldwin was acquitted last week of misdemeanor battery, Garcetti said he heard howls that it was all his fault--even though the city attorney's office prosecuted the case.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has spent more than half of the nearly $1 million he had amassed in campaign funds, mostly on television advertising, county election financing records indicate. Garcetti spent $595,085 from Feb. 11 through March 9, including $423,511 on television ads to air before the March 26 primary, according to reports filed this week with the county registrar-recorder's office. He raised an additional $96,105, leaving him with $440,292.

With the bulk of absentee ballots counted, challenger John Lynch inched closer to Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti but Garcetti still holds a slim lead, election officials said Monday. As 85,546 more ballots were counted Monday afternoon, Lynch gained 2,117 votes on Garcetti, Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack said. However, with nearly 2.2 million votes counted, Garcetti maintains a lead of 3,165 votes, McCormack said.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has extended his lead over challenger John Lynch to 4,347 votes, gaining 901 votes in counting conducted Tuesday, election officials said. With 18,808 more ballots counted Tuesday, Garcetti, the incumbent who has maintained a slim lead since election night, inched closer to clinching victory over Lynch, who heads the Norwalk branch of the district attorney's office. But the race is still not officially over.

Personally speaking, he is a committed family man, a dedicated early morning jogger, a Shakespeare buff and the owner of a 185-pound Irish wolfhound named Seamus. He also has loads of disarming charm and a ready wit. Professionally, he is a 19-year veteran of the district attorney's office respected by his peers for his sober-minded analysis, integrity and a sense of humanity.

Challenger John Lynch said Monday that incumbent Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti ought to take a new television advertisement off the airwaves, asserting it's a "sleazy attack ad" that distorts his record. The ad, which began running Friday, shows Lynch's face for the full 30 seconds. The soundtrack includes an announcer's comments on the challenger's role in the McMartin preschool case and the prosecution of financier Charles Keating. It concludes by saying that Lynch is "too risky to be D.A."