Vice President Joe Biden will attend a Beverly Hills fundraiser Sunday on behalf of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s re-election campaign.
The event, which will be held at a private home in Beverly Hills, is being billed by Garcetti’s campaign as a “salute” to the outgoing vice president, who will be stepping down Jan. 20 to make way for the presidential administration.
Garcetti faces a lineup of 10 challengers for the March 7 primary election, although many are political unknowns with little or no money raised. The most high-profile challenger is Mitchell Schwartz, who has worked on campaigns for former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama.
Bill Carrick, Garcetti’s campaign manager, told City News Service there was no estimate yet on how many people may be attending or how much money may be raised, but “it is looking good, there’s been a good response.”
As part of the salute to Biden, Garcetti has asked supporters in an email to sign an online card thanking him for his service.
“I can say without equivocation that working with Joe makes the future as bright as his famous smile. I mean it when I tell people that I love this guy,” Garcetti wrote. “We all look forward to seeing Vice President Biden again over the coming months and years.”
The fundraiser will be hosted by Allan Mutchnik, an executive with Harbor Freight Tools, and his wife, Nicole.
Garcetti enters the new year already with a substantial lead in fundraising over his 10 challengers. With more than $2.25 million having been raised, the mayor is well ahead of his closest challenger in funds, Schwartz, who has raised more than $255,000. No other candidate still in the race has raised more than $4,000.
Schwartz has criticized Garcetti for spending time in office raising money, noting the mayor filed to run for re-election in March 2015 and has been raising money ever since. He has also been rumored to be eyeing a run for governor in 2018.
Schwartz recently made an “ethics pledge” that included promises to serve the entire 5 1/2-year term as mayor before running for another office and that he would immediately shut down his campaign fundraising committee after the election until January 2021.
“Politicians like Eric Garcetti pander to the rich and powerful because they need the money to win the next higher office,” Schwartz said in a video posted to YouTube. “The whole system is corrupt. We need to demand change.”
–City News Service