The Brief

You know them, you might love looking at them, and you definitely hate to park under them. Jacaranda season is upon us, and the iconic tree gets a lot of attention every year (see here if you need help tracking them down). But if you only pay attention to that bloom, you’re barely scratching the surface of the flowers you can see every year – there's no shortage of tree species planted around town.

If you're going to park under a jacaranda, it helps if your car matches the flowers.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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Greater Los Angeles has an incredibly varied assortment of tree species, owing in part to its microclimates and the many varieties of trees that can adapt to live here, especially drought-tolerant ones. And while they may not all have the name recognition of the famous tree imported from South America, they’re just as eye-grabbing when you see them.

Keep your eyes peeled this summer for these blooms, and if there’s a particular tree you’ve got to see flower yourself, you might want to consult a guide like this one for the city of L.A.. And if you’d rather see a bunch of trees at once, it could be worth a trip to somewhere like the L.A. County Arboretum or Descanso Gardens.

To put some shine on these lesser-known tree species, we went ahead and polled some specialists from TreePeople and the L.A. County Arboretum for their favorite blooms.

One protip from our experts: The range of time when you can see these trees in bloom can vary substantially from year to year, especially as climate change intensifies. This year’s blooming season, like last year’s, is later than usual owing to a wet winter, and trees of the same species might not bloom at exactly the same time. So if you don’t see any flowers, don’t fret – you can look somewhere else, and the same tree could be a lot more flowery in just a week or two.

Crepe myrtles

• Lagerstroemia

A crepe myrtle tree in the L.A. County Arboretum.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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Crepe myrtles do well in lots of L.A.'s microclimates, including by the beach. A specimen in Redondo Beach is pictured here.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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• When it normally flowers: Summer (may flower multiple times per year)
• Native to: Oceania, South and Southeast Asia
• About the tree: It shouldn’t be too hard to spot, since its hardiness makes it one of the most commonly planted trees in L.A., though TreePeople’s senior arborist Bryan Vejar said it’s fallen out of favor somewhat in recent years in part due to its widespread planting. And summer isn't the only time Frank McDonough, botanical information consultant of the L.A. County Arboretum, said that they're one of the best trees for fall foliage when cooler temperatures roll around.

Southern magnolia

• Magnolia grandiflora

Magnolia grandiflora getting ready to bloom.

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Courtesy U.S. National Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Spring through fall
• Native to: Southeastern United States
• About the tree: If you want to see some really big flowers, Vejar says this is one of the ones to look out for: They can get almost as big as a dinner plate. Magnolias are also a living fossil, being one of the first plants to evolve flowers tens of millions of years ago.
  

Tipuana

• Tipuana tipu

Tipuana tipu trees, like jacarandas, were originally brought to L.A. from South America.

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Flickr user Cyril Nelson

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• When it normally flowers: Early to late summer
• Native to: South America
• About the tree: This tree is a member of the legume family, but you might think it’s more closely related to maple trees if you saw their helicopter-like seeds, according to Vejar.
  

Gold medallion tree

• Cassia leptophylla

Cassia leptophylla, the Gold Medallion tree.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Summer
• Native to: Southern Brazil
• About the tree: These are related to tipuanas, also being members of the legume family, and they produce long, skinny seed pods – though McDonough warned to be careful with these around kids, as they’re somewhat toxic.
  

Chinese flame tree

• Koelreuteria bipinnata

This tree goes by many names - Chinese flame tree, Chinese lantern tree, the Bougainvillea golden-rain tree - but whatever you call it, it's beautiful, right?

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Flickr user Surely Shirly

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• When it normally flowers: Summer to fall
• Native to: East Asia
• About the tree: These trees can be somewhat invasive in humid regions or close to the coast, but otherwise Vejar says they’ve adapted well to the Los Angeles urban environment. They’re also known as Chinese lantern trees due to their papery, lantern-shaped seed pods.
  

Strawberry tree

• Arbutus unedo

The strawberry tree can produce small white flowers year-round. It's just as remarkable for its fruit - which is much harder to eat than actual strawberries.

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Flickr user laredawg

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• When it normally flowers: Year-round
• Native to: Mediterranean Europe
• About the tree: This tree, an evergreen, has a deep red, exfoliating bark that’s almost as remarkable as its bell-shaped flowers. If you spot one, Vejar said you may also see some hummingbirds nearby. And the fruit is edible – though if you try it, be warned that it may be quite gritty and tough to chew.

Elderberry

• Sambucus racemosa)

Don't forget: Pollination is why plants evolved to produce flowers.

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Courtesy National Park Service

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• When it normally flowers: Summer
• Native to: Most of North America
• About the tree: While this widespread species is perhaps best known for its use in Native American medicine, it also produces beautiful flowers in white, cream and yellow. It’s currently in its blooming season, said Vejar.

Queensland bottle tree

• Brachychiton rupestris)

The Queensland bottle tree is one of a few Australian trees featured on this list.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Spring to summer
• Native to: Queensland, Australia
• About the tree: These trees grow rather quickly and, being from a very dry part of Australia, have a mechanism where they can store water inside, similar to a cactus. According to McDonough, this is one of the most stable trees you can plant owing to its low center of gravity.

Desert willow

• Chilopsis

Desert willows are usually covered in pink flowers when they're in bloom, but they can also come in white.

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Courtesy Charlie McDonald/U.S. Forest Service

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• When it normally flowers: Late spring to summer
• Native to: Mexico and southwestern U.S.
• About the tree: These are related to jacarandas, and are one of the few species native to the area that is appropriate for an urban environment. Vejar said now is a good time to seek out this flower, as they’re just starting to bloom.
  

Catalina ironwood

• Lyonothamnus

The Catalina ironwood's exfoliating reddish bark and leaves are remarkable any time of year, but you can also spot it covered with white flowers when it's in bloom.

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Flickr user brewbooks

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• When it normally flowers: Summer
• Native to: Channel Islands
• About the tree: Being native to coastal regions, Vejar said the best place for this species to grow is by the coast, though it’ll still survive in the Inland Empire and other warmer areas.

Floss silk tree

• Ceiba speciosa

This specimen of ceiba speciosa was started from seed at the L.A. Arboretum.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: From August to December, depending on variety
• Native to: South America
• About the tree: The tree is loved by horticulturists for its prominent flowers and low water use – though its tendency to drop branches without warning has earned it the nickname “palo borracho” (drunken branch), said McDonough.

Lacebark tree

• Brachychiton discolor

Brachychiton discolor's flowers are beautiful on the tree, but they're just as showy when they drop to the ground.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Summer to fall
• Native to: Eastern Australia
• About the tree: These flowers will eventually drop from the tree like jacarandas (and other flowering trees) – but with the lacebark tree, that’s actually a plus, as they produce a pleasing thwack sound when they hit concrete or asphalt. “I like to just put myself in a nice meditative state and listen to these things,” McDonough said. “There's no way to put any kind of word on it. It has a very calming effect on you.”
  

Plumeria

This is just one of many, many varieties of plumerias you can see at the L.A. Arboretum and around town.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Spring to fall, depending on variety
• Native to: Tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas, from Florida to Brazil
• About the tree: While this plant commonly associated with Hawaii is often grown as a shrub, McDonough said they’re more accurately classified as small trees. The L.A. Arboretum currently has the largest collection of plumeria in the U.S., and you can celebrate the flower at their Plumeria Festival this July 19 and 20.
  

Red flowering gum

• Corymbia ficifolia

A personal favorite flower produced by the red flowering gum tree.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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• When it normally flowers: Year-round, but especially in July and August
• Native to: Western Australia
• About the tree: All right, I’ll admit it – this tree is my own addition, and I saved my personal favorite for last. I’m a big fan of flowers that look otherworldly, and these anemone-like blooms really take the cake. Like many of the trees listed, it can also grow in urban conditions that other species would balk at – it’s very “punk rock” in that way, as Vejar put it.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

It’s Thursday night at Eastwood Bar in Koreatown, and the place is packed with about 300 people chatting under sparkling disco lights. Haystacks, wooden guitars and retro beer signs decorate the space. In the center, a metal stool holds a Mac laptop, and a big screen displays a visual sales presentation, or pitch deck. A beaming young woman steps to the mic and begins her slideshow pitch. But she’s not selling anything. She’s trying to get someone in the audience to date her friend.

This is Pitch-A-Friend Los Angeles, one of LA’s hottest dating events, where singles looking for a match rely on a good friend with great slideshow skills as their wingman.

The goal is to connect people to dates in real life, but the unique concept also allows singles to see their friends say nice things about them in creative ways, Pitch-A-Friend Los Angeles organizer Jackson Wise told The LA Local.

“I get to see best friends kind of hype each other up and talk about their friends’ characteristics and sometimes that’s not always spoken,” Wise said. He added that he often notices the friend being pitched sitting in the audience and getting teary-eyed from all the encouragement.

Wise began the LA offshoot of Pitch-A-Friend nearly two years ago. The original event began in Philadelphia. After spending several years struggling in LA’s notoriously difficult dating scene, Wise scrolled past the Instagram account for a Philly-hosted event of Pitch-A-Friend. “I reached out to them, and they said I should start it in Los Angeles,” Wise recalled.

He said his LA offshoot was not very successful early on, drawing small crowds. But he kept at it, relying on social media and word of mouth to grow the event, which now draws crowds in the hundreds.

Pitch-A-Friend Los Angeles leader Jackson Wise opens the night at Eastwood Bar in Koreatown.

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Cristabell Fierros

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The LA Local

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What is Pitch-A-Friend?

The concept is simple: Instead of single people promoting themselves on a dating app, their friends do it for them, live, in front of a room full of strangers. Each presenter gets four to five minutes and a slide deck, usually made in Canva or Google Slides, to show off a single friend’s best qualities, quirks and what they’re looking for. Singles in the crowd who like what they see can find that person afterward, in the room or through the Hooked Up app.

The LA Local got a front-row seat to an LGBTQ+ singles event at Pitch-A-Friend Los Angeles. Here’s how it went down.

Half an hour before presentations, Wise made sure all participating friends were signed up. He checked that their five-minute Canva or Google Slides decks were good to go. Soon after, he energized the crowd with lively announcements like: “At the end of every presentation, I get, ‘Hey, I didn’t meet anybody.’ My first question is, ‘Did you talk to anybody?’ It’s usually no.”

Then he encouraged everyone to scan the QR code for the Hooked Up app or to break out of their circles, mingle and help their friends connect. He introduced stickers to help direct singles on queer night: green for women or friends, red for men and white for both or nonbinary.

Among the crowd was Elektra Armenta. “We don’t really get many mixers or dating events for queer folks in LA. So, I was really excited to be here, to experience all of us,” Armenta said.

The first presenter used colorful and playful multimedia slides to hype up her 23-year-old gay male roommate as someone who is intelligent, supportive and attentive and, above all, has a gift for listening.

Next, two young women took to the stage to introduce their accomplished friend, a 35-year-old retired three-time Olympian now thriving in tech at LA28. “Lauren is looking for something serious,” one of them declared. Someone in the crowd shouted back, “Yeah, we don’t play.”

As the night went on, each presenter was greeted with cheers and applause for their creativity, thoroughness and appreciation of their friends’ achievements. More importantly, singles were finding potential matches.

“Getting to know people through their friends is actually a really special experience,” first-time attendee Brex Garay told The LA Local. “It’s been really impressive to see people’s creative sides on pitching their friends.”

Jacaranda. Jacaranda. Jacaranda. We love those purple canopies across Los Angeles.

But have you seen the Chinese flame tree — sporting happy yellow blooms that brighten everything around them in the fall, before giving way to pink or reddish capsules that are reminiscent of paper lanterns?

“The genus for that group of plants is Koelreuteria,” said Donald Hodel, a landscape horticulture adviser with UC Cooperative Extension, part of the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Two species of the tree flower this time of the year. Hodel said that despite their varied origins, they’re almost visually indistinguishable. Koelreuteria bipinnata is from China, and Koelreuteria elegans is from Taiwan.

The golden yellow phase of the Chinese flame tree.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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Pinkish, reddish capsules of seeds emerge after the yellow flowers.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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The genus, according to the UC Cooperative Extension, was introduced to the United States in 1763 — most likely by an arboretum or botanical garden, Hodel said. From there, they entered the nursery trade.

They are popular trees in greater Los Angeles — and can be found in El Sereno, Long Beach and Culver City — with a couple of knocks against them.

“They aren't water hogs by any means; [but] they can't really be considered drought-tolerant,” Hodel explained.

Close-up of a capsule from the Chinese flower tree.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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And they sprout easily if their seeds find a water source. “Which means you have to take them out, 'cause eventually they'll get too big,” he said.

No tree is perfect — he stressed — not even SoCal’s beloved jacaranda.

“If I could only have one or the other, I'd probably pick a Koelreuteria,” he said. “It's a good-looking tree.”

The post appeared first on LA Local.

Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.

Shh. There’s a secret comedy show happening in there where a comic is revealing secret techniques to make babies fart.

Don’t Tell Comedy shows like this one at Boardroom Brewery in El Segundo last month are happening all around Los Angeles County. They are stand-up shows where the crowd is only given venue clues ahead of time and only told where to be just hours before. The sites vary from parking lots, furniture stores, wine shops and other unconventional settings for stand-up comedy.

How to find a secret comedy show

• The first step is fairly simple. Visit the Don’t Tell Comedy website and look for a show in a city you don’t mind driving to.
• You’re going to have to buy tickets without knowing anything about the show. That means you won’t know who is performing or where the show is being held.
• The morning of the event, you will receive a text message or email with the address to the secret location.

What a typical show looks like

Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.

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Don Perez

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The LA Local

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Boardroom Brewery bartender Rick Mathiesen told The LA Local that the night started with folks “getting out of their Ubers with confused looks on their faces.” They were trying to figure out if they got the right place, especially when the beach town bar rolled down its see-through hangar door.

The secret comedy show organization started in 2017 with backyard and living room pop-up shows. It has expanded its clandestine comedy format to more than 200 cities, including areas across LA such as downtown, Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Pasadena.

Griffin James, the emcee of the night and a local producer for Don’t Tell Comedy, was seen putting 80 chairs away by himself — hey, legendary comic Sam Kinison got his start as The Comedy Store’s doorman.

The 26-year-old Griffin said the gigs are still as competitive as landing a stage at The Laugh Factory, where he’s performed. There’s an added benefit for the audience: There is no mandatory two-drink minimum, which makes it more affordable than a night at a traditional comedy club.

Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.

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Don Perez

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The LA Local

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Most comics at Don’t Tell Comedy shows are up-and-coming locals, but a few big names like Ali Wong, Nikki Glaser and Michael Che have appeared.

Jenna Lewanda told The LA Local that she and her boyfriend, Manny Aguilar, decided to take a trip from their West Hollywood home to the mystery spot in El Segundo. Their usual haunts for live comedy are the Hollywood Improv and a friend’s show, Hambone Comedy.

Lewanda received a message at 9 a.m. that Saturday with the location details. She looked it up and committed the odd curved building to memory. She was happy that night’s headliner was a famous stand-up: Brad Williams. 

Williams — a comedian with dwarfism who has two Showtime specials and a Netflix stand-up episode under his belt — closed out the seven-comic show that night.

He got a lot of laughs recalling a camping incident where a park ranger told him to “get big” when confronted by a bear. The 4-foot-4-inch Williams’ response: “How?”

With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes.

Political action committees backed by politically powerful groups such as unions and business have spent over $100 million on California legislative races so far this election cycle, eclipsing 2024 spending. Groups can spend unlimited amounts on “independent expenditures” to boost or oppose a candidate, providing they don’t coordinate with the campaign.

Since they came on the scene in January, two new tech-backed groups have dominated spending in legislative races. Grow California, funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper as a “counterforce” to union spending, has spent more than $20 million this cycle. California Leads, funded by Meta and Google, has spent close to $14 million this year to support candidates who are focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.”

Legislative Action PAC, which Republican strategists founded in 2025 at the request of Republican lawmakers amid frustration with the official state Republican Party, is also spending for the first time this cycle. It aims to help Republicans hold seats they flipped in 2024, and its major funders include Google, AT&T and oil and gas companies. The PAC and its offshoots, Legislative Action Victory PAC and Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC, have spent at least $6 million to support Republican candidates since April.

A CalMatters analysis of spending since the June 2 primary found that these are the nine most expensive competitive general election contests in the Legislature. Total spending in each race includes campaign spending from the primary through Sept. 19, the most recent reporting period, and independent expenditures from the primary through Oct. 13.

$5.6 million: David Penaloza (D) v. Jessie Lopez (D) – Assembly District 68

The priciest race so far is between two millennial Democrats who both serve on the Santa Ana City Council in Orange County. Lopez is the more progressive of the two: She helped pass a rent control ordinance in 2021 and faced a recall attempt by the local police union after she voted to create a police oversight commission in 2022. Tech money is flowing to help her opponent: In recent weeks, California Leads has spent $1.4 million and Grow California has spent $1.3 million on ads supporting Penaloza.

Several powerful unions, including those representing public employees, nurses and California State University faculty, have spent a combined $1.4 million on ads supporting Lopez and attacking Penaloza.

$5 million: John Erickson (D) v. Brian Goldsmith (D) – Senate District 24

In the battle to succeed Sen. Ben Allen, Brian Goldsmith, an entrepreneur and former senior adviser for the pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel, faces John Erickson, a West Hollywood city councilmember. The coastal Los Angeles district includes Malibu and Santa Monica. The two candidates are sharply divided on renter protections. Erickson supports repealing both the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and the Ellis Act, which limit local rent control and allow landlords to evict tenants to leave the rental business. That’s likely driving the influx of money supporting Goldsmith from the California Apartment Association, which has spent $450,000 on independent ads attacking Erickson. The California Realtors Association is the main funder of a PAC that’s spent over $600,000 backing Goldsmith.

Criminal justice reform advocates and organized labor, including the carpenters and school employees association, have bankrolled ads supporting Erickson.

$4.7 million: Greg Wallis (R) v. Leila Namvar (D) – Assembly District 47

Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis is again fighting hard to retain his seat representing a purple district that includes both deep-blue Palm Springs and Cathedral City as well as conservative suburbs around Redlands and Yucaipa. Wallis has a significant fundraising advantage over his opponent, Democrat Leila Namvar, a former local labor leader and city planner. His campaign has outspent hers 6-to-1 and independent expenditures supporting him are more than 5-to-1. A moderate with a pro-business record, Wallis has been a favorite of California Leads, which has spent $1.1 million supporting him. A PAC funded by oil and gas companies has spent about $450,000. Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC spent about the same.

Amid the flood of outside spending, the Democratic Party has backed Namvar. Since mid-September, the party and its county committees have given her committee about $1.8 million.

$4.6 million: Sara Hernandez (D) v. Sarah Rascón (D)  – Senate District 26

Two Democrats are vying to replace departing progressive Sen. María Elena Durazo in this deep blue Los Angeles-based district. Sara Hernandez, a community college trustee, faces Sarah Rascón, a planning commissioner for East Los Angeles. Grow California and California Leads are backing Hernandez to the tune of about $3 million, even though her campaign website says she will “fight for strict rules with real enforcement” on Big Tech profits. Cardrooms near this district, including Hawaiian Gardens Casino and Commerce Casino, which are in a perennial battle with tribal casinos over gaming rights, have spent about $500,000 on independent ads supporting Hernandez.

Rascón, whose top priorities include advancing environmental and social justice, has rejected corporate money. Her campaign had spent about $34,000 as of mid-September, and the Working Families Party and California Environmental Voters have spent over $100,000 on ads supporting her.

$3.8 million: Eric Lucan (D) v. Jackie Elward (D) – Assembly District 12

This seat, which encompasses all of Marin County and some of Sonoma County, is another target of Grow California. The group has spent about $1.8 million on ads supporting Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan. Lucan’s positions are more moderate than those of progressive Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward, who said in a KQED questionnaire that she supports moratoriums on “all things AI,” including data centers, and that “protecting workers is the priority.”

Elward’s support comes chiefly from the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Consumer Attorneys of California and SEIU California State Council, which have spent over $1 million to support her race.

$3.2 million: Jeff Gonzalez (R) v. Ida Obeso-Martinez (D) – Assembly District 36

Outside groups have spent $2.7 million to back Republican Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersTraditionally Democratic, this Latino-majority district along the California-Mexico border voted for Trump by 1.3 percentage points in 2024. The same year, Republican Jeff Gonzalez flipped it. Democrat Ida Obeso-Martinez, a nurse practitioner and Imperial County councilmember, is now challenging him to take it back. Oil and gas companies, a California Chamber of Commerce PAC and Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC are among the outside groups that have spent $2.7 million on mailers, polling, and TV and digital ads supporting Gonzalez and attacking Obeso-Martinez.

No outside groups have spent on behalf of Obeso-Martinez, but the California Democratic Party and its central committees recently gave Obeso-Martinez over $1.5 million for the final weeks of the race.

$2.8 million: Josh Hoover (R) v. Amy Slavensky (D) – Assembly District 7

Incumbent Republican Josh Hoover faces Democrat Amy Slavensky, a retired teacher and superintendent, in this competitive Sacramento-area district, which shifted rightward after redistricting in 2022. Hoover’s allies, including business groups, cardrooms, and the Legislative Action PAC, have spent at least $2.3 million, chiefly on digital ads and mailers supporting him and opposing Slavensky.

No independent groups have spent to support Slavensky, but Democrats have contributed close to $1 million to Slavensky since mid-September.

$2.6 million: Leticia Castillo (R) v. Clarissa Cervantes (D) – Assembly District 58

Assemblymember Leticia Castillo at her desk during a floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersRepublican Assemblymember Leticia Castillo flipped this Latino-majority seat in Riverside County in 2024, defeating Democrat challenger Clarissa Cervantes by 596 votes. This year is a close rematch. Cervantes, a Riverside city councilmember whose sister is Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, received 54.5% of the vote compared to Castillo’s 45.5% in the June primary. In a rare move, Cervantes has outspent the incumbent Castillo in the general election. Much of her spending — close to $1 million — has been from her campaign account, compared to Castillo’s $80,000.

Legislative Action Victory PAC has spent about $650,000 on ads attacking Cervantes, and a coalition of unions spent about $530,000 supporting her. Both parties have been pouring in money to their respective candidates in the last few weeks.

$2.6 million: Guillermo Gonzalez (R) v. Melissa Hurtado (D) – Senate District 16

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Melissa Hurtado won this district by 13 votes in 2022 even as Gov. Gavin Newsom lost it by more than 10 percentage points, making her the only Democrat to represent a state Senate district that President Donald Trump won in 2024. She faces a challenge from Republican Guillermo Gonzalez, a small business owner and former aide to Rep. David Valadao. Legislative Action PAC has spent over $1.7 million supporting Gonzalez and opposing Hurtado.

The Democratic Party and various county central committees have donated $4.8 million to Hurtado’s campaign war chest this election cycle, allowing her to spend close to $1 million between the primary and mid-September’s filing deadline.

For the record: This story was corrected to reflect that Clarissa Cervantes received 54.5% of the vote in her June primary contest against Leticia Castillo.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.