LA Squawk Box for Wednesday, May 27, 2026

The LA Reporter checks in on what's happened to Rae Huang's matching funds, a new LA city committee on the film industry, Pratt needles Bass on electioneering near a ballot drop-off box, and more.

What’s happening today?

A vote on the LA city budget got continued to today’s 10 a.m. City Council meeting, which also has two lawsuits related to flooding incidents, a May 13 progress report on the LA Convention Center modernization project that also comes with instructions to transfer $3.16B toward that project, and a motion to create an ad hoc committee on the film industry.

What just happened?

I have a story at The LA Reporter, which also puts out this LA Squawk Box newsletter, that takes a look at what is going on with lefty mayoral candidate Rae Huang’s matching funds, which have yet to be released, after her campaign announced back on March 25, that they had “unlocked” them.

Two months later, the campaign hasn’t received a dime, and there is less than a week left to before the June 2 election. The LA Reporter obtained public records that show that their matching funds claim was rejected in mid-April, and a form submitting more than $79,000 for matching funds didn’t get submitted until May 7. The delay in getting those funds had already prompted heavy criticism, including accusations the campaign was lying about when they were posting to that they’d unlocked the funds. In late April, disclosures filed with the City Ethics Commission showed the campaign had run out of funds. In interviews with The LA Reporter, campaign staff insist they weren’t trying to misrepresent things, and that the delay has been a result of “human error” and life disruptions for members of their team.

Huang is forging on, despite the lack of funds. Just before the story came out, Huang pushed back on a post urging her to drop out of the race. Huang wrote: “People who believe I should get behind Nithya do not understand that I am a different candidate with moral courage and consistency who wants to fundamentally change who holds power in Los Angeles. Candidates who claim that Los Angeles is ‘broken’ refuse to acknowledge that this is by design. It is time to break the status quo. Power belongs to the people, not efficiency and influence. Vote for real change by June 2nd since it’s in fact ‘the best choice.’”

Pratt needles Bass on electioneering near a ballot drop-off box: There was also a kerfuffle between Spencer Pratt and Karen Bass over the rules around electioneering at a ballot drop-off box. Pratt says he filed a complaint Tuesday morning in response to a video Bass’s campaign posted of her dropping off her ballot, and then cheering on others dropping off their ballots. Bass flung back some mud, saying that Pratt was just “mad that his supporters are AI cartoons.” There was recently an AI created video showing people at a pilates class saying they secretly support Pratt. Bass meanwhile touted support from actor Samual L. Jackson on Tuesday.

Raman gets described by everyone but herself, in LA Times profile: And Noah Goldberg at the LA Times has a fascinating profile about Nithya Raman, despite the candidate declining to be interviewed for the article. Goldberg draws a portrait of Raman, contrasting her Harvard-education and studiousness with her struggles to adopt a politician’s interpersonal finesse, through interviews from former staffers, enemies on the City Council, and friendlier colleagues who have nevertheless sided with the person in the race with the most power at City Hall, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.