Hahn, Richardson report campaign debts

Jan. 31, 2012 8:21 PM PT

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Democratic Reps. Janice Hahn and Laura Richardson, battling for the same newly drawn congressional district in southeast Los Angeles County, both have campaign debts bigger than their war chests, reports filed Tuesday showed.

According to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Hahn, of San Pedro, raised $74,538 from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. Thanks to earlier fundraising for the race, she ended the three-month period with $75,861 in the bank but reported owing $156,583.

A campaign spokesman said that nearly all of that debt is from the special election Hahn won last summer to replace Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), who resigned to head a Washington think tank.

Richardson, of Long Beach, raised $103,016 during the three-month period and had $132,357 cash on hand going into the new year. But she also reported debts totaling $437,983.

Reports were due to the FEC on Tuesday.

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-- Jean Merl

Politi-Cal

Jean Merl

Jean Merl, a hopeless news junkie, covered regional politics for the Los Angeles Times until 2015. She was raised in southern Ohio but moved with her family to Los Angeles at a tender age, which practically makes her a California native. She holds a master’s degree from UCLA and remembers when Otis Chandler was publisher of The Times and Tom Bradley was mayor of L.A.