The biggest donor in L.A. mayor’s race runs a hedge fund — and wants more bike lanes

A hedge fund manager who supports expanding the city’s bicycle lane network is now the biggest single contributor in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, putting $4 million into campaign committees that are backing City Councilmember Nithya Raman.

Aaron Sosnick, who manages the hedge fund A.R.T Advisors, gave $3 million last week to Estamos Con Nithya for Mayor 2026, an independent expenditure committee sponsored by the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, according to city contribution records.

Sosnick, an avid bicyclist, put an additional $1 million into a pro-Raman committee sponsored by Streets for All, a group that advocates for bike lanes, bus lanes and other street redesigns. That group, which focuses on efforts to reduce the number of fatal vehicle collisions, has produced dozens of digital campaign ads promoting Raman and criticizing her opponent, Mayor Karen Bass.

Michael Schneider, who heads Streets for All’s political action committee, said the hedge fund manager “wants to see change” at City Hall.

“He likes to ride his bike in L.A., and he doesn’t want to die,” Schneider said. “He thinks L.A. should be better run and should be more multimodal … that you should be able to ride your bike or take a walk without risking your life.”

Sosnick didn’t respond to inquiries sent to him and to Schneider, who offered to forward them directly. Campaign contribution reports show Sosnick is based in Reno. He splits his time among Reno, New York City and L.A.’s Los Feliz neighborhood, Schneider said.

Bass spokesperson Alex Stack took aim at the hedge fund manager’s spending, saying Raman’s wealthy backers are “trying to buy the election.” Stack also issued a statement from David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, which is supporting the mayor.

“One out-of-state billionaire who is bankrolling Nithya Raman’s campaign has no idea what our communities deserve,” Huerta said.

Raman described Sosnick as a constituent and a board member with the Oaks Neighborhood Assn. Appearing at a news conference Sunday, she said she’s spoken to him about “the need for safe streets here in the city of Los Angeles.”

In a statement, Raman spokesperson Liz Garcia said the mayoral candidate also has talked to Sosnick “about proposed hillside development projects, concerns about party houses, and other quality-of-life issues impacting Los Feliz residents.”

Sosnick has been a major donor to nonprofit Streets for All, which has been pressing city leaders to redesign streets and sidewalks in ways that separate bikes and buses from cars and trucks, while cutting traffic speeds overall.

In 2024, Sosnick provided $686,000 to Streets for All’s campaign for Measure HLA, according to city records. The measure, which passed by a wide margin, requires that the city implement its decade-old plan for adding bike lanes, bus lanes and pedestrian safety measures each time repair crews fix at least one-eighth of a mile of street.

Schneider drew a direct link between the slow progress on Measure HLA construction work and number of traffic deaths in L.A., which now outpace homicides on an annual basis.

The influx of money from Sosnick puts Raman’s coalition in a strong position during the campaign’s final six weeks. Streets for All’s political action committee is working closely with the Estamos Con Nithya, the campaign set up by the carpenters union, conferring on strategy and holding “regular check-in calls,” Schneider said.

“We’re looking at where each other’s gaps are. We’re coordinating,” he said.

Sosnick has a history of backing L.A. candidates and ballot proposals. State contribution reports show that he gave $350,000 to the effort to pass Measure M, the countywide half-cent sales tax backed by Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2016, which helped pay for new subway extensions, light rail lines and other large-scale transportation projects.

“He wants to see L.A. transportation look more like a world-class city and less like a car-centric suburb,” said Joe Linton, editor of Streetsblog, which covers transportation issues and has received funding from Sosnick’s nonprofit group.

The following year, Sosnick sent $100,000 to a committee fighting an attempt to recall then-City Councilmember Mike Bonin on the Westside.

At that time, Bonin was facing a backlash over the installation of several “road diets” — projects that removed vehicle lanes from Vista Del Mar in Playa del Rey and other major corridors. That recall effort fizzled out.

Venice resident Mark Ryavec, who ran unsuccessfully against Bonin that year, voiced concern over Sosnick’s latest burst of spending, saying the hedge fund manager is using his largesse to “tell the rest of his neighbors how to live.” He predicted that Raman, if elected, would follow Sosnick’s lead and install bike lanes that “very few people will use.”

“It’s disgusting that our elections are being bought and sold at the whim of the wealthy,” he said. “We see it more on the Republican side, but this is a clear instance of it on the left.”

Sosnick has also waded into politics in the San Fernando Valley, putting $250,000 into a campaign committee called “I Love LA” in 2019. That committee was set up to support council candidate Loraine Lundquist in her race against onetime council aide John Lee.

During that campaign, Lee had come out against a proposal for a dedicated bus lane on Nordhoff Street, spurring pushback from residents in Northridge. The Sosnick-funded committee blasted Lee in campaign mailers, calling him a tool of “Big Oil and their lobbyists.”

Lee won his race after portraying Sosnick as a wealthy outsider with investments in fossil fuel companies such as Chevron and Valero.

Lee, in an interview, said he later took a call from Sosnick — not about transportation, but Measure ULA, the tax on high-end property sales, in the run-up to the 2022 election. On that call, Sosnick expressed worries that the measure would have a negative effect on housing production, Lee said.

“We both agreed that we thought it would be problematic,” he said.

Two years later, Sosnick helped Streets for All pass Measure HLA and put $25,000 into a committee that backed attorney Ysabel Jurado, who unseated Councilmember Kevin de León.

Sosnick may not remain the top donor in the mayor’s race for long.

The carpenters council has put $3 million of its own money into Estamos Con Nithya so far. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, has committed nearly $2.8 million to its effort to reelect Bass — and plans to spend considerably more in the coming weeks.

Airbnb, which has been seeking to loosen restrictions on the city’s home sharing rules, sent nearly $1.8 million last spring to a pro-Bass committee run by the Central City Assn. That group is planning to spend more during the runoff, said Ryan Aubrey, a spokesperson for the downtown-based business group.