Key Takeaways
- • Hedge fund manager Aaron Sosnick has given $4 million to two independent expenditure committees backing Nithya Raman's campaign for Los Angeles mayor, according to a Los Angeles Times report based on city campaign-finance records.
- • Sosnick gave $3 million to Estamos Con Nithya for Mayor 2026, sponsored by the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, and $1 million to a pro-Raman committee sponsored by Streets for All.
- • The Times identified Sosnick as the race's largest reported single donor as of Sept. 25.
- • Sosnick previously gave $100,000 in 2017 to help keep Councilmember Mike Bonin in office during a recall campaign tied in part to backlash over road-diet projects.
- • The spending links the Westside road-diet dispute and Measure HLA to the mayoral race, with Bass's campaign attacking the spending as wealthy-donor influence.
Summary
Hedge fund manager Aaron Sosnick has given $4 million to two independent expenditure committees backing Nithya Raman's campaign for mayor of Los Angeles, according to a Los Angeles Times report based on city campaign-finance records. Sosnick gave $3 million to Estamos Con Nithya for Mayor 2026, a committee sponsored by the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, and $1 million to a pro-Raman committee sponsored by Streets for All. The Times identified him as the race's largest reported single donor as of Sept. 25.
Sosnick previously donated $100,000 in 2017 to help keep Mike Bonin in office, opposing a recall campaign that followed backlash to Bonin's road-diet projects in Playa del Rey and Mar Vista. Bonin was not recalled, later chose not to seek reelection in 2022, and Traci Park won the open Council District 11 seat. The dispute over street redesigns remains active in the debate over Measure HLA and the city's transportation priorities.
Streets for All, which is backing Raman through an independent committee, led the campaign for Measure HLA, the 2024 ballot measure requiring Los Angeles to build applicable Mobility Plan improvements when it undertakes qualifying street projects. Supporters say the measure ensures bike lanes, bus lanes and safer crossings already envisioned in the city's long-range plan get built. Critics, including Park before the measure passed, warned it could mean fewer driving lanes, less parking and major changes to neighborhood streets. The city now tracks potential projects through its Mobility Plan Implementation Dashboard.
Raman has said she has spoken with Sosnick about safe streets, and her campaign said they also discussed Los Feliz issues including hillside development, party houses and other quality-of-life concerns, according to the Times. Bass's campaign has attacked the spending as an effort by wealthy donors to influence the election. Michael Schneider, who leads Streets for All's political action committee, told the Times that Sosnick wants Los Angeles to move faster on multimodal streets and safety improvements.
Sosnick previously donated $100,000 in 2017 to help keep Mike Bonin in office, opposing a recall campaign that followed backlash to Bonin's road-diet projects in Playa del Rey and Mar Vista. Bonin was not recalled, later chose not to seek reelection in 2022, and Traci Park won the open Council District 11 seat. The dispute over street redesigns remains active in the debate over Measure HLA and the city's transportation priorities.
Streets for All, which is backing Raman through an independent committee, led the campaign for Measure HLA, the 2024 ballot measure requiring Los Angeles to build applicable Mobility Plan improvements when it undertakes qualifying street projects. Supporters say the measure ensures bike lanes, bus lanes and safer crossings already envisioned in the city's long-range plan get built. Critics, including Park before the measure passed, warned it could mean fewer driving lanes, less parking and major changes to neighborhood streets. The city now tracks potential projects through its Mobility Plan Implementation Dashboard.
Raman has said she has spoken with Sosnick about safe streets, and her campaign said they also discussed Los Feliz issues including hillside development, party houses and other quality-of-life concerns, according to the Times. Bass's campaign has attacked the spending as an effort by wealthy donors to influence the election. Michael Schneider, who leads Streets for All's political action committee, told the Times that Sosnick wants Los Angeles to move faster on multimodal streets and safety improvements.
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