The top words in LA’s runoff ads, by candidate
For each candidate in the Nov. 3 runoffs for mayor, city attorney and the 3rd and 9th council districts, the eight words or phrases that the most outside money paid to put in front of voters.
These are the figures behind The words LA’s mayoral race is spending the most to say.
By Miles Morton · · From the ads outside groups filed with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission through Oct. 31.
| Row | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nithya Raman | “homelessness” | 78% | 15% | 1 | Mayor |
| 2 | Nithya Raman | “rent” | 56% | 6% | 2 | Mayor |
| 3 | Nithya Raman | “leader,” “leadership” | 44% | 6% | 3 | Mayor |
| 4 | Nithya Raman | “crisis” | 43% | 3% | 4 | Mayor |
| 5 | Nithya Raman | “fire,” “fires” | 41% | 4% | 5 | Mayor |
| 6 | Nithya Raman | “wasted” | 40% | 1% | 6 | Mayor |
| 7 | Nithya Raman | “$3 billion” | 36% | 0% | 7 | Mayor |
| 8 | Nithya Raman | “by half” | 32% | 0% | 8 | Mayor |
| 9 | Karen Bass | “safer” | 54% | 2% | 1 | Mayor |
| 10 | Karen Bass | “school” | 50% | 0% | 2 | Mayor |
| 11 | Karen Bass | “500 feet” | 44% | 0% | 3 | Mayor |
| 12 | Karen Bass | “kid,” “kids” | 44% | 0% | 4 | Mayor |
| 13 | Karen Bass | “tent,” “tents” | 38% | 0% | 5 | Mayor |
| 14 | Karen Bass | “police” | 33% | 0% | 6 | Mayor |
| 15 | Karen Bass | “scary” | 30% | 0% | 7 | Mayor |
| 16 | Karen Bass | “officers” | 28% | 0% | 8 | Mayor |
| 17 | Marissa Roy | “MAGA” | 80% | 0% | 1 | City attorney |
| 18 | Marissa Roy | “donors” | 80% | 0% | 2 | City attorney |
| 19 | Marissa Roy | “Trump” | 79% | 0% | 3 | City attorney |
| 20 | Marissa Roy | “Republican” | 62% | 11% | 4 | City attorney |
| 21 | Marissa Roy | “consultants” | 62% | 0% | 5 | City attorney |
| 22 | Marissa Roy | “elephant in the room” | 51% | 0% | 6 | City attorney |
| 23 | Marissa Roy | “Adam Schiff” | 33% | 0% | 7 | City attorney |
| 24 | Marissa Roy | “Alex Padilla” | 32% | 0% | 8 | City attorney |
| 25 | John McKinney | “prosecutor” | 89% | 0% | 1 | City attorney |
| 26 | John McKinney | “safer” | 73% | 2% | 2 | City attorney |
| 27 | John McKinney | “streets” | 70% | 3% | 3 | City attorney |
| 28 | John McKinney | “Democrat” | 64% | 32% | 4 | City attorney |
| 29 | John McKinney | “crooked landlords” | 59% | 0% | 5 | City attorney |
| 30 | John McKinney | “corruption” | 59% | 2% | 6 | City attorney |
| 31 | John McKinney | “jury trials” | 59% | 0% | 7 | City attorney |
| 32 | John McKinney | “people’s lawyer” | 59% | 0% | 8 | City attorney |
| 33 | Barri Worth Girvan | “homelessness” | 93% | 31% | 1 | Council District 3 |
| 34 | Barri Worth Girvan | “renters” | 85% | 3% | 2 | Council District 3 |
| 35 | Barri Worth Girvan | “safe” | 77% | 15% | 3 | Council District 3 |
| 36 | Barri Worth Girvan | “Democratic Party” | 71% | 0% | 4 | Council District 3 |
| 37 | Barri Worth Girvan | “working families” | 70% | 7% | 5 | Council District 3 |
| 38 | Barri Worth Girvan | “affordable housing” | 55% | 0% | 6 | Council District 3 |
| 39 | Barri Worth Girvan | “fair wages” | 44% | 0% | 7 | Council District 3 |
| 40 | Barri Worth Girvan | “women’s rights” | 44% | 0% | 8 | Council District 3 |
| 41 | Tim Gaspar | “business” | 53% | 2% | 1 | Council District 3 |
| 42 | Tim Gaspar | “gas” | 31% | 0% | 2 | Council District 3 |
| 43 | Tim Gaspar | “groceries” | 31% | 0% | 3 | Council District 3 |
| 44 | Tim Gaspar | “career politicians” | 28% | 0% | 4 | Council District 3 |
| 45 | Tim Gaspar | “fix” | 25% | 0% | 5 | Council District 3 |
| 46 | Tim Gaspar | “police” | 21% | 0% | 6 | Council District 3 |
| 47 | Tim Gaspar | “public safety” | 20% | 5% | 7 | Council District 3 |
| 48 | Tim Gaspar | “cost of living” | 16% | 7% | 8 | Council District 3 |
| 49 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “teachers” | 96% | 0% | 1 | Council District 9 |
| 50 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “Bernie Sanders” | 87% | 0% | 2 | Council District 9 |
| 51 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “healthcare” | 82% | 20% | 3 | Council District 9 |
| 52 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “corruption” | 68% | 0% | 4 | Council District 9 |
| 53 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “sidewalks” | 67% | 1% | 5 | Council District 9 |
| 54 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “lower costs” | 66% | 10% | 6 | Council District 9 |
| 55 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “Marissa Roy” | 66% | 0% | 7 | Council District 9 |
| 56 | Estuardo Mazariegos | “streetlights” | 61% | 6% | 8 | Council District 9 |
| 57 | Jose Ugarte | “firefighters” | 58% | 0% | 1 | Council District 9 |
| 58 | Jose Ugarte | “Democratic Party” | 58% | 22% | 2 | Council District 9 |
| 59 | Jose Ugarte | “jobs” | 51% | 38% | 3 | Council District 9 |
| 60 | Jose Ugarte | “schools” | 49% | 13% | 4 | Council District 9 |
| 61 | Jose Ugarte | “parks” | 42% | 18% | 5 | Council District 9 |
| 62 | Jose Ugarte | “nurses” | 34% | 1% | 6 | Council District 9 |
| 63 | Jose Ugarte | “seniors” | 22% | 0% | 7 | Council District 9 |
| 64 | Jose Ugarte | “homeowners” | 22% | 16% | 8 | Council District 9 |
Notes
Each figure is the share of one side’s outside spending that paid for ads using the word or phrase at least once. Money for a candidate includes ads against their opponent. A filing’s cost is split evenly across the pieces in it, and Spanish versions of the same words are counted with them.
The words are the ones we tracked for each side after reading its ads, so these are the eight that drew the most money among them, not a count of every word in every ad.
Only ads with readable text on file are counted, about $21.4 million of the $24.5 million outside groups have spent in the mayor’s race and $6 million of the $7.5 million in the other three. About 40% of the money backing John McKinney went to ads with no readable text, so his figures cover the rest. Five of his words tie at 59%, and “single mom” is left out because it refers to his sister.
Blue marks the candidate the Central City Association’s committees back in each race, as in our charts.