Ooof: Gascon Trails Hochman in LA DA Fundraising – Badly, Very Badly

The technical political term for the state of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon’s campaign finances as he heads into the November is “ouch.”  Maybe even an “ooof” is warranted.

As of June 30 – the end of the donation reporting period that began just before the March primary – Gascon reported having about $47,000 cash on hand.

His opponent Nathan Hochman had more than $1.1 million dollars in the bank.  That’s 23 times more than Gascon has.

23x – let that sink in.

As for the donations that came in for the most part after the primary, Gascon raised about $166,000, while Hochman raised more than $1.5 million.

In the same time period, Hochman spent about $676,000 compared to Gascon spending about $221,000.

For comparison sake, in 2020 had raised about $3 million by this point in the election cycle.

“These fundraising numbers are not surprising because George Gascon is the most unpopular District Attorney in modern history,” Hochman said. “I have spent the past year traveling throughout this great county and I hear the same thing everywhere I go: The public feels less safe than they did before Gascon was elected and they want change. On Nov. 5, we all have an opportunity to put an end to a dark chapter of L.A. County history and send a message to law enforcement, crime victims and criminals – we will no longer tolerate crime that has eroded our quality of life for the past four years.”

Gascon’s campaign did not reply to a request for comment.

Who is doing the giving also bodes poorly for Gascon. In the 2020 election, Gascon raised about $9 million between now and voting day.  The vast majority of that funding – about $7 million – came from only 10 donors, with George Soros and Patty Quillan – wife of the founder of LinkedIn – leading the way.  

Soros has not donated to Gascon at all this time, a telling fact as Soros is known throughout the political community for not funding people he thinks will lose, no matter their past association.  To be blunt, Soros didn’t get that rich by throwing good money after bad.

Soros does not appear to be alone in thinking Gascon is a no-hoper.  In 2020, the “four horsewomen of the woke apocalypse” played a key role and now their support has nearly evaporated.

The four – Quinn Delaney, wife of a San Francisco developer (note – I’d start saving your money, Quinn), Kaitlyn Krieger, wife of the guy who co-founded Instagram, Patty Quillin, wife of the guy who started Netflix, and Elizabeth Simons, daughter of a hedge fund billionaire…you get the idea – helped make sure Gascon got the job by dropping about $3.1 million dollars, either on their own or through their political action committee, Smart Justice.

Prior to the primary, the four had only given $39,000 and in this latest reporting period, only Delany shows up with a $1,500 donation.

Gascon raised $4,000 from a trio of local unions, $2,500 from Planned Parenthood, $5,000 from Cordozar Broadus (that’s Snoop Dogg most likely,) and $1,000 from Jane Fonda.

Gascon also received $500 from his “recently charged with eleven felonies” Assistant District Attorney and top aide Diana Teran.  That donation came just before the primary and well before the charges were filed.

As for Hochman’s donors, a large percentage of his funding seems to be coming from the real estate sector.  Typically, developers and such donate money to pols they think will make the community safer and more livable, thereby increasing home sales.

Hochman, a former Republican running as an independent (decline to state) did still receive donations from Republican groups like the Lincoln Club and the Log Cabin Republicans.

Particularly of note are the donations from a group of 7-11 franchise owners.  The group has been loudly opposed to Gascon’s soft-on-crime approach as convenience stores have had to bear the brunt of those policies.

Between the organization and the individual franchisees, Hochman raised more than $8,000.

While it is unknown if the forces of the rich woke left will ride to save Gascon in the fall as they did last time, it is already clear that Gascon’s support – both financially and in the polls – is ebbing low right about now.