LOS ANGELES, CA– Continuing to propel his campaign for Los Angeles City Council District 5 forward, workers’ rights attorney and longtime community leader Sam Yebri announced today that he had raised $680,451.67 for his grassroots campaign by December 31, 2021.
Yebri is the only candidate to refuse donations from real estate developers, billboard companies, cannabis companies, and the oil and gas industry as well as any corporate or PAC money. Public filings show Yebri’s opponents as having accepted them.
Yebri’s total fundraising haul – which comes from nearly 2,000 individual donors – shows broadening grassroots support for his community-backed campaign, which, according to LA Mag, in August announced a commanding $161,000 lead over the candidate with the next highest total, Katy Young. If elected, Yebri would become the first Iranian-American and the first refugee to sit on the Los Angeles City Council.
“Our campaign is about electing a true representative for our community, one who will fight for neighborhoods and residents, not City Hall insiders,” said Yebri. “We need a leader who will stand up to the status quo and stand up for accountability, a leader who will work towards a better, greener, safer, more equitable Los Angeles for all. And I am continually humbled by how deeply our message is resonating.”
The fundraising announcement comes on the heels of the endorsements of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 36, AFSCME Local 1083, the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region, and over 1,200 non-profit, progressive, neighborhood, business, and community leaders endorsing Yebri. They join powerful political supporters LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, LA City Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Curren Price, legendary LA Congressman Henry Waxman, and LA Congresswoman Nannette Barragán.
A full endorsement list can be seen here.