The money race among two remaining candidates for the Los Angeles Board of Education is competitive, but outside spending has skewed resources decidedly toward the one backed by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Antonio Sanchez has collected more than $67,000 in contributions for a May 21 runoff in District 6, which stretches across the east San Fernando Valley. Opponent Monica Ratliff has raised nearly $27,000, according to reports posted Friday by the city Ethics Commission.
The outside spending tells a more one-sided story. A political action committee spearheaded by Villaraigosa has raised $900,000 since the primary to elect Sanchez. It also had sizable resources left after compiling nearly $4 million in its efforts to elect Sanchez and two other candidates to the board in March. One of those candidates, incumbent Monica Garcia, won. The other, challenger Kate Anderson, lost. Sanchez finished first but not with the majority of votes needed to avoid a runoff.
Sanchez also is benefiting from campaign spending by labor groups. The L.A. County Federation of Labor has spent more than $150,000 on his behalf since the primary. Affiliates of the Service