Walter Moore

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Walter Moore (born 1959) is a business trial lawyer, and a licensed real estate broker. Moore was a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, California in the 2005 election. With no prior interest in local politics, Moore became the first person to register with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission to challenge the mayoral incumbent James Hahn. In July 2004 Moore began to campaign full-time and took an unpaid leave of absence from his law firm, Richard Hamlin Attorneys. Moore, who did not actively solicit campaign contributions, got over ten times more votes per dollar spent than his opponents; he received 2.75% of the vote, after spending less than $30,000 on his campaign, while his opponents spent over $14.5 million.

Moore's platform included: ending "pay-to-play" politics; halting the $11.5 billion plan to remodel LAX (which would have left the airport with three fewer gates that it has now); opposing any increases in taxes or bond; repealing the City's business income tax; repealing rent control; repealing L.A.'s Special Order 40, which makes the city a sanctuary for illegal aliens; fighting pet overpopulation by having mandatory and free spaying and neutering; and making the animal shelters "no-kill."

Moore's platform was popular among those who heard it, but the mainstream media did not cover his campaign, and excluded him from the televised debates. One radio station, KABC 790 AM, included Moore in a broadcast debate, and 65% of the listeners who "voted" at the station's website voted for Moore over the five other candidates. (Cite: http://www.kabc.com/mcintyre/kabcpastpoll.asp )

Some L.A. political analysts believe that Moore, by drawing votes away from Bob Hertzberg, cost that candidate the office and enabled Antonio Villaraigosa to win the election. (Cite: http://www.martinirepublic.com/item/martini-republic-interview-walter-moore/ )

On March 9, 2007, Moore formally announced that he is running for Mayor again, and has filed the papers necessary to solicit contributions for his campaign. This time, Moore emphasized, he will urge supporters to donate enough to raise $150,000 -- the amount needed to qualify for matching funds and appear in the televised mayoral debates.