FOLLOW US

The wealthy supporter of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spent additional $1.7 million to oppose Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom in the California governor’s race. On Friday, the Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa, a political action committee (PAC) that supports charter schools, spent 1,738,046.33 to contradict Newsom. That amount is on top of the $1.8 million the PAC spent for the same purpose on Wednesday and $500,000 on Monday. In other words, its total spending against the Democratic front-runner was over $4 million last week alone. A group of wealthy businessmen including Michael Bloomberg and Reed Hasting largely contributed to the Families and Teachers for Villaraigosa. They strongly support Villaraigosa because he wants to provide quality education for every child. Over the past two months, the PAC also spent around $1.73 million opposing Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox. It also spent President Donald Trump endorsed Cox. However, former California Governor Arnord Schwarzenegger, a Republican, strongly objected the President’s endorsement and advice to Californians. Schwarzenegger will not vote for Cox or Travis Allen, another Republican gubernatorial candidate. Based on the latest polls, Villaraigosa is competing with Cox for the second place in the California primary on June 5.

Villaraigosa supporters called Newsom incompetent

In a series of television ads, the PAC attacked Newsom as an incompetent and lazy leader. In the 30-second advertisement entitled “Guys,” a narrator stated, “We all know guys like Gavin. Boasting, overselling his achievements, making false statements.” Another ad entitled “Work” indicated that Newsom will not work as governor. It included a video clip shown him leaving for Hawaii when San Franciso was hit with the oil spill in decades. Newsom was the mayor of the city at the time. Joshn Pulliam, a spokesman for the PAC, told the Los Angeles Times last week that they are just responding to Democratic front-runner’s attack. According to hi “After Newsom has spent millions attacking Democrats and boosting Cox, we had no other choice.”