The primary election to fill Henry Waxman’s Congressional seat isn’t until June 3, but so far California Democrat Matt Miller is winning the race for Hollywood’s pocketbook.
The Democratic contender pulled in nearly $30,000 more in campaign contributions from Hollywood power players than his nearest rival, Wendy Greuel, in the first quarter of 2014, according to TheWrap‘s analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.
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Greuel once worked for DreamWorks and was considered Hollywood’s favored candidate. She also has the benefit of name recognition due to her failed mayoral race against Eric Garcetti.
Miller, a political columnist and radio host, drew $67,900 from figures including A-list writer-producer Roberto Orci; former studio executive Sherry Lansing; and J.J. Abrams, who also donated a lesser amount to Greuel’s campaign.
Though Greuel received 60 percent of Miller’s Hollywood contributions — $41,000 — the former Los Angeles City Controller leads the Democratic race overall with $672,215 in non-loan donations.
Marianne Williamson, an Independent candidate, has so far appealed to Hollywood mainstays like Nancy Sinatra and actress Dana Delany to rank third in our analysis of Hollywood donations.
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Rounding out the list is Ted Lieu, the California State Senator who received the official endorsement of the Democratic Party. Lieu’s donor list is populated with legal and medical professionals; the biggest entertainment name of note is an senior VP from Warner Bros., Howard Welinsky.
Our methodology included a line-by-line analysis of itemized receipts for the first quarter 2014, as listed on the FEC’s website. Though many individuals with direct or tangential relationships to the entertainment industry also made contributions, we focused on “power players” as defined by influential decision making authority or clout.
You can see exactly who we included on the charts below.