fundraising

Los Angeles City Council member Traci Park has raised more than $1.2 million for her reelection campaign in the city’s June 2 primary, more than double the amount collected by challenger Faizah Malik, according to finance reports filed this week.

Malik, a civil rights attorney, reported raising roughly $454,000 in her bid for the District 11 seat that skirts along the Westside, including Mar Vista, Pacific Palisades, Venice and Westchester, the reports show.

At nearly $1.7 million, the money raised in the race is the highest for the eight council seats, out of 15 total, on the ballot in the June 2 primary. Any candidate who wins a majority in the election will win the seat outright, otherwise the top two vote-getters will compete in the Nov. 3 general election.

Two of the eight races are open seats to replace termed-out incumbents, and in five other races, incumbents Eunisses Hernandez, Park, Hugo Soto-Martínez, Tim McOsker and Katy Yaroslavsky posted large fundraising leads against their challengers. One incumbent, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, is running unopposed.

In the west San Fernando Valley’s 3rd District, three candidates are seeking to replace termed-out Councilmember Bob Blumenfield.

Insurance company founder Tim Gaspar was leading the pack in fundraising, reporting nearly $430,000. Barri Worth Girvan, an aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, has raised about $235,000. Tech entrepreneur Christopher Robert “CR” Celona was far behind with about $12,300.

In Council District 1, which includes Highland Park and Pico-Union, incumbent Hernandez topped the field with about $319,000 in contributions. Challenger Maria Lou Calanche, a former Los Angeles police commissioner, reported raising about $182,000.

Among other challengers in the race, Sylvia Robledo, a small-business owner and longtime City Council aide, reported about $75,000 in contributions. Raul Claros, founder of a nonprofit called California Rising, listed $70,500 in contributions and entrepreneur Nelson Grande reported raising about $55,000.

There are six candidates vying to replace incumbent Curren Price in the 9th District, which includes USC and communities along the Harbor Freeway corridor.

Jose Ugarte, a former deputy chief of staff for Price, led the field in reported financial contributions, amassing $477,000.

Estuardo Mazariegos, head of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Los Angeles, reported roughly $200,000 in contributions and Elmer Roldan, director of a nonprofit, has raised about $114,000.

Entrepreneur Jorge Nuño and therapist Martha Sanchez trailed with about $25,000 and $13,000, respectively. Educator Jorge Hernandez Rosas did not report any contributions.

In the other races:

• Yaroslavsky reported raising about $431,000 for her 5th District seat, which includes Westwood, Palms and Hancock Park. None of her opponents, Henry Mantel and Morgan Oyler, reported raising more than $35,000.
• McOsker reported raising 242,000 for his 15th District seat in San Pedro. Challenger Jordan Rivers, a community organizer, told The Times he did not raise any funds.
• Soto-Martínez reported raising more than $170,000. The three challengers in the race — Colter Carlisle, Dylan Kendall and Rich Sarian — reported a combined $152,000.

The outcome of the Park-Malik contest in District 11 will be determined in the June 2 primary because there are only two candidates in the race.

In a statement, Councilmember Park credited her fundraising lead to her efforts to clear homeless encampments.

“I raised an historic number of donations from local Westside residents because I’ve been on the ground since Day One solving our number one priority: getting people off the streets into housing and treatment and removing dangerous encampments from our neighborhoods,” Park said. “Residents, workers and visitors all see the difference.”

Kendall Mayhew, communications director for Malik’s campaign, said in a statement that Park and her supporters are spending unprecedented money because “we are winning and they simply don’t know what else to do.”

“What our campaign has demonstrated so far, and what we will demonstrate at the ballot box in just a few weeks, is that corporate money cannot defeat an honest, people-powered campaign,” Mayhew said.

The fundraising totals reported this week represent money given by individual donors, who are limited to contributions of no more than $1,000 in this election cycle. While the reports offer a glance at fundraising, money is also coming in through independent expenditures, which have no limit on how much can be given.

For example, in District 1, the L.A. County Federation of Labor has reportedly spent more than $226,000 in support of Hernandez. Calanche is also receiving supporting funds: the Fix Los Angeles PAC Supporting Calanche, Ugarte and Park for City Council 2026 has spent about $46,000 on her campaign to unseat Hernandez.

TORONTO — Freddie Freeman ignored the first call from the unknown number.

Then four text messages in a row came from someone claiming to be Ryan Reynolds, the Canadian-American actor.

“I don’t know if I believe this,” Freeman recounted Wednesday on the Rogers Centre field before the Dodgers’ series finale against the Blue Jays. “So I did a little digging.”

Through backchannels, he confirmed it was indeed Reynolds reaching out. So they set up a call, and Reynolds pitched Freeman on participating in the annual holiday video for SickKids Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Toronto children’s hospital.

Spoiler alert: Freeman agreed, and it went viral.

“It was special,” Freeman said. “Got to meet [a few of the kids], know their stories, and then obviously, hopefully raise a lot of funds.”

Freeman was the perfect candidate. The son of two Canadians, the Dodgers first baseman has represented the country playing for the national team. And he’s long supported children’s healthcare.

Though Freeman was a healthy child, he spent a lot of time in the hospital with his mom, Rosemary, who died from melanoma when he was 10 years old.

While playing for the Braves, Freeman got involved with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, hosting an annual “Freddie and Friends” fundraising lunch. And in recent years, his connection to children’s healthcare has become even more personal. In 2024, Freeman’s son, Maximus, then 3, was hospitalized with a severe case of a rare neurological condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome.

“Watching my mom go through her things, and living in hospitals, and having Max get sick, and knowing how important hospitals are for kids, and for people that work there — it’s not just the doctors, but there’s so many different other teams inside of a hospital that are working,” Freeman said. “So when you can help raise funds in a kind of a fun way, I jumped at it.”

The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman looks on with his wife, Chelsea, and sons before a game against the Braves on April 18, 2022.

(Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It came together around Thanksgiving, just weeks removed from the Dodgers’ World Series win over the Blue Jays in a back-and-forth Game 7 in Toronto. So, of course, the video would play off of that.

“Ryan is so hilarious and fun,” Freeman said. “We had a great time. And it came out really good.”

The video opens with an introduction from Reynolds, who says that so many Canadians had offered to co-star in the annual video that there was a wait list. And it just so happened that this year, it was Freeman’s turn.

Cut to a hospital set, with a healthcare provider and three kids, one wearing a Blue Jays hat and another a team sweatshirt. In walks Freeman, to a chilling reception.

The kids pummel Freeman with insults and boos. And he even dodges what appears to be a teddy bear, before giving them a dejected nod and walking out.

Reynolds reappears.

“I asked him in March,” he says. “What are the odds?”

Of course, that’s not exactly how it happened.

The whole thing was shot in Southern California, Freeman said. The kids got a break from the Toronto winter, and were flown out with their families for filming. Freeman got to meet their parents.

“Those kids were actually the real kids in the hospital, and were doing better, and that’s what made it so fun,” Freeman said.

They were real Blue Jays fans. One of the kids had his prosthetic eye customized with the team logo. But they were also Canadian.

“They were always saying sorry after they said something mean to me,” Freeman said with a laugh.

The digs that made the final cut included: “You suck,” “You ruined everything,” and “Go back to your sunshine and traffic, you hoser.”

They were far more biting than the reception Freeman got at the Rogers Centre this week. Sure, the Dodgers got booed. But Freeman said on deck, he heard fans telling him to come home.

“Canada, everyone knows it’s very special to me,” Freeman said. “Every time I come here, I feel a little closer to my mom.”

She used to work in downtown Toronto, not far from the Rogers Centre. His dad would come meet her as she got off work. For Freeman, it’s a city of stories and memories.

Even in Game 1 of the World Series, Canadian fans cheered for him.

“I love it,” Freeman said of returning to Toronto. “Canadians are too nice. I don’t think they can be actually mean.”

That only happens in children’s hospital fundraising videos.