Los Angeles Real Estate’s Picks in the Mayoral Race

Following the money shows some big ties to real estate for incumbent Karen Bass heading into Los Angeles’ June mayoral race.

Campaign contribution filings, the most recent of which were due Monday for the reporting period through Dec. 31, show Bass in a big lead having raised $2.4 million since sending out her first fundraising email in the summer of 2024.

Plenty across real estate — from agents and brokers to large land holders and developers — are backing the city’s current mayor, who has raised over $60,000 from the industry, or about 2.6 percent of her campaign’s overall contributions, according to a review of filings with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.

It’s by far the largest amount raised from real estate in a crowded, and growing, landscape of over 30 hopefuls looking to unseat Bass.

Among the big donors to Bass’ reelection campaign are Stewart and Lynda Resnick, who each pitched in the maximum $1,800. The billionaire couple, whose wealth Forbes estimates to be $10.8 billion, own privately held The Wonderful Company — which includes consumer brands such as POM Wonderful, Fiji Water and Wonderful Pistachios — and are some of the state’s largest owners of land and water rights. The Resnicks, through a spokesperson for The Wonderful Company, declined to comment on Bass or their contributions.

The Resnicks weren’t the only ones to open their pocketbooks to Bass.

Richard Ziman, co-founder of Rexford Industrial, was one of the first to respond to Bass’ initial 2024 fundraiser by contributing $1,800 in July 2024. Developer Steve Soboroff was another early contributor back in July 2024, with $500. Soboroff supported Bass in 2022, saying she “is exactly who Los Angeles needs right now.” That was before his relationship with city hall soured once he was tapped by Bass to be chief recovery officer post-Palisades fire in April 2025. That was followed in short order by a very public unraveling mired in accusations by Soboroff that he was sidelined from key decisions.

From homebuilders, there was a $1,500 contribution in November from luxury developer Ardie Tavangarian, who sold the mansion at 1601 San Onofre Drive in the Pacific Palisades for $83 million in 2021 to tech billionaire Austin Russell. The Arya Group CEO declined to comment on Bass or specific policies of the mayor that he supports.

Elsewhere on the residential real estate side, six individuals from Compass donated a combined $3,550 to Bass’ campaign. There were also agents from Coldwell Banker Realty, Oppenheim Group, Nourmand & Associates and Keller Williams pitching in for the current mayor.

Looking to unseat

While the challengers to Bass may be many, only a handful have turned the heads of donors.

Former L.A. deputy mayor and Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner is leading that pack with $314,601 raised and 4.4 percent, or over $13,750, of it from the real estate industry, according to Ethics Commission records.

Among the biggest donors so far were Cushman & Wakefield broker Eric Olofson ($1,800), El Segundo real estate investor Charles Lyons ($1,800), and Stevenson Ranch broker Amber Dolle-Field ($1,800).

Civil engineer Asaad Alnajjar, who counts over 35 years working for the city, has raised the next largest pot with $109,368. About $1,900 of that, or nearly 2 percent, was drawn from real estate. The largest of those contributions was $1,800 from Ruben Gamerberg of Los Angeles-based Caltron Construction.

There’s also Democratic Socialists of America member and Presbyterian minister Rae Chen Huang, who announced in November her candidacy for mayor. She’s considered a longshot but has also drawn comparisons to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.

Little funds are flowing from real estate for Huang’s campaign, although that comes as no surprise. Huang called her campaign “people powered” and made clear in a January fundraising email she’s not taking money from “corporate interests, developers or political insiders.”

Former “The Hills” reality TV star and Palisades resident Spencer Pratt filed his intention to run for mayor on Tuesday with the city clerk. He officially kicks off his campaign on Wednesday.