Seventh District Councilmember Roberto Uranga has managed to build a substantial war chest in his quest for a second term on the Long Beach council dais. Just a few weeks before the city’s primary nominating election on April 10, Uranga’s ending cash balance on Feb. 24 totaled $41,551.05, according to his most recent campaign-finance reports.
The incumbent for the 7th District raised and spent much more money compared to his long list of opponents. Jared Milrad, Kevin Shin, Oscar Delacruz and Chris Sereno have all qualified to run against the councilmember, however they have not yet come close to Uranga’s fundraising efforts, according to the reports available on the Long Beach City Clerk’s website.
The 7th-district councilmember’s combined finance reports from 2017 and through Feb. 24, 2018 show that Uranga raised a total of $76,816 in contributions and spent a total of $59,196.70.
Uranga does have a separate officeholder account from his initial 2014 run for office, however it is unclear whether he can use those funds for his current campaign. On Feb. 24, Uranga’s officeholder’s account posted an ending cash balance totaling $26,490.53.
Uranga’s substantial bank accounts have not deterred his opponents.
Campaign rival Milrad is way behind Uranga in his finances, but he did still raise a significant amount of money quickly. Uranga began his campaign earlier.
Milrad raised a total of $16,335.01 and spent a total of $10,128.08, according to his combined finance reports from 2017 and the current year through Feb. 24. He reported an ending cash balance of $8,853.31 as of Feb. 24.
Shin only began posting any financial activity in the first two months of this year, however he has also gained considerable ground within a short time frame. Shin raised $10,348.95 and spent $7,247.36 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 24. His ending cash balance totaled $3,101.59 as of Feb. 24.
Very recently, he gave himself an extra cash boost. Shin loaned $8,000 of his own money to his campaign on March 16.
Delacruz and Sereno have not posted any specific financial activity because they are not required to do so. Candidates who have raised or spent below a specific threshold are not required to file detailed reports. Both Delacruz and Sereno filed short forms in February that stated they have not received nor spent more than $2,000.
Martin Martinez Saldaña and Emily Quest initially filed their intent to run for Uranga’s office, however, the city clerk’s office did not list these two individuals among the qualified candidates for the April election.
Uranga still maintains one more advantage over those who desire to run against him. In addition to his efforts to raise money for his own political campaign, Uranga has managed to win support from political-action committees (PACs) tied to labor. PACs associated with local unions including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO Council on Political Education and the Long Beach Firefighters Local 372 have spent thousands of dollars in support of Uranga in this campaign season.
So far, the AFL-CIO has outpaced the other PACs in expenditures for the 7th District’s primary race.
The Signal Tribune will report on labor’s influence on the local races for city council in a future story.
