Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is under scrutiny following the launch of an online advertising campaign. The ad highlighted that contributions to her re-election campaign would be matched using taxpayer dollars.
In the video shared on her campaign’s account, Bass emphasized the urgency of the situation. “Your donation to our campaign right now is more critical than ever before,” she said, speaking into a microphone with upbeat music in the background.
Bass explained that under Los Angeles’ super match program, every qualified donation from residents is matched six-to-one by the city. “After the primary, we had to start over from scratch, so we need you to rush your matching donation right now to help fuel this campaign,” Bass urged. She highlighted that a $5 contribution would amount to a total of $35 with the city’s match, while $25 would become $175.
A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, Roxanne Hoge, criticized the program. She stated, “It’s a system they set up to enrich themselves and their friends and get themselves elected.”
The setup of the matching funds is legal, similar to how election rules are codified in California. Hoge remarked, “Almost none of the money that Los Angeles takes in is used for things that make sense. Money goes to homelessness and it increases homelessness.” She mentioned that the system doesn’t seem logical and added it to the list of confusing actions.
Bass’ campaign declined to comment on the issue despite requests. Critics online expressed discontent with the program in use since the 1990s for mayoral candidates. Michael Shellenberger, a professor, called the system “grotesque.” Richard Grenell, a former Trump administration official, deemed it “outrageous.”
The program requires participants to meet specific qualifications. They must have raised 300 times the max matchable amount per contributor, which is $257, have 100 donors who contributed at least $5 from Los Angeles, have an opponent, and hold a public town hall or debate. Only donations from Los Angeles residents are eligible for matching.
The maximum qualifying donation is $257, which could come to $1,799 with the match. The total cap on matched donations reaches over $1.5 million in the general election.
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