SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, Calif., Feb. 29, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Democrat Brian C. Johnson has maintained his strong fundraising efforts during the first two months of 2012, announcing today that his campaign has raised over $400,000 in his bid for the Valley's newly drawn Assembly District.
At the December 31st filing deadline, Johnson's campaign announced that it held a significant advantage over his competitors, leading his next closest opponent by over $200,000. This latest announcement shows that Johnson's momentum continues to build heading into the final 3 months before the June 5th Primary.
Johnson campaign consultant Harvey Englander explained the significance of the announcement. "Crossing the $400,000 mark at this stage in the campaign would be impressive for an incumbent. Brian is not a career politician so that makes this number very formidable. The early part of the year is always tough for fundraising and for Brian to continue the momentum he has shown throughout this campaign is a testament to his message."
Englander continued, "It's also important to point out that Brian is not getting his donations from a lot of downtown Los Angeles lobbyists and special interests looking to influence city hall and he is not loaning himself money to inflate his fundraising numbers. Brian's donations are coming from hundreds of individual donors who are responding to his message of creating jobs in the Valley and making sure that every child has access to a world class public education."
The fundraising announcement follows closely after the recent endorsement of Johnson by Democratic Assembly Member Cathleen Galgiani.
"I am honored to have the support of a respected leader like Cathleen Galgiani," said Johnson. "Cathleen has been a champion for working Californians across the state and I am proud to count her as a supporter."
The newly drawn 46th Assembly District includes the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Sherman Oaks, Toluca Lake, Studio City, Valley Village, Valley Glen, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Panorama City, North Hills, Lake Balboa and the Hollywood Hills.
Brian C. Johnson is a Democrat, the former Executive Director of Teach for America in Los Angeles, and the current Executive Director of the Larchmont Charter Schools, a network of high-performing and racially and socio-economically diverse public schools in Los Angeles.
ABOUT BRIAN C. JOHNSON:
Brian has devoted his entire professional life to helping reform our schools and providing greater control of our schools to parents, teachers and principals. Brian began his career as a first grade teacher with Teach For America. After receiving his MBA and law degree from Stanford, Brian became the Executive Director of the Los Angeles chapter of Teach For America, a non-profit national service organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in public schools.
During his time there, Brian increased revenues by $5 million annually and tripled the size of his team so that Teach For America could bring in over 700 of the nation's top college graduates to serve as public school teachers in Los Angeles. These teachers have made a dramatic impact on the lives of 50,000 students throughout our city, including an emphasis on teacher placement in the San Fernando Valley.
Brian currently serves as the Executive Director of the Larchmont Schools, a network of high-performing and racially and socio-economically diverse local public schools. In times of massive state budget cuts, Brian has worked with parents and teachers to build a new middle school, grow the schools by 300 students, and create new jobs as the school has grown.
In the midst of this growth, Brian has led the schools in the Larchmont Schools network to be named among the highest performing schools in Los Angeles by the state department of education. He credits this incredible growth and success during tough economic times to strong fiscal responsibility, a commitment to putting kids first, and actively working with teacher and parent input.