The steep decline of District 6 candidate Iris Zuniga’s campaign — and her sudden withdrawal earlier this week —  were vivid examples of the sudden twists and turns that part of any political campaign. Things can and do change quickly during campaign season, and no doubt there are many more twists and turns before we...

School Board Steve Zimmer’s campaign fundraising has been less than stellar in terms of direct contributions, but it got a big boost this week courtesy of an Independent Expenditure (IE) from SEIU Local 99, which represents classified LAUSD employees. According to the latest expenditure reports, SEIU Local 99 has thrown down $68,688 to support Zimmer,...

There were roughly 100 audience members at Thursday night’s School Board candidate forum in District 4, which featured incumbent Steve Zimmer and challenger Kate Anderson. Over all, the event was polite and informative, showing off both candidates’ strengths, stylistic and substantive differences, and their support for Superintendent John Deasy. Anderson, with her twin daughters sitting...

Today’s just-arriving round of campaign contribution statements covers just the first 19 days of the year. (You can see a full list of city-wide candidates and their campaign contributions here.) Based on the reports that have been uploaded thus far, we can tell you that sitting School Board President and District 2 Board Member Monica...

Tomorrow night’s School Board candidate forum for the Westside’s District 4 could be a fascinating event, if for no other reason than it will feature just two candidates — challenger Kate Anderson and incumbent Steve Zimmer — going head to head.  (Jeneen Robinson is registered as a write-in candidate, and was not invited to participate)....

We listed notable contributions to the Garcia campaign yesterday and updated contribution reports are due tomorrow, but while we’re waiting let’s take a look at the contributions to candidates from earlier this month: •District 6 School Board member Steve Zimmer has raised $27,688 from notable donors including former State Assemblymember Betsy Butler (who lost her bid for...

School Board President Monica Garcia’s latest campaign finance statement includes some familiar names — including a $1,000 contribution from LAUSD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Jaime Aquino, a top aide to Superintendent John Deasy. While it’s illegal to solicit campaign contributions from Los Angeles city employees, it is perfectly legal for  employees to give on their own accord,...

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles — which has been active on issues such as the use of student test scores as part of teacher evaluations — is planning to hold a candidate forum for each School Board race: The first forum, for the Westside’s District 4, will be held on January 24 at...

In an endorsement that somehow flew under the radar, outgoing School board member Nury Martinez has endorsed Iris Zuniga to be her replacement, according to the League of Women Voters’ Smart Voter website. The site notes that newly-elected Congressman Tony Cardenas and State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra have also endorsed Zuniga. Aides to Martinez and Bocanegra have...

The most recent quarterly campaign fundraising numbers are in (courtesy of the wonderful City Ethics Commission’s website), and the big winners so far are school board President Monica Garcia and challenger Kate Anderson. These figures cover direct contributions to the candidates’ campaigns, which are capped at $1,000 per person, through December 31. They don’t include...