Celebrity Endorsements in L.A. Mayor's Race: Salma Hayek for Garcetti

These are the remaining weeks of the first round of the race for mayor of Los Angeles, with voters going to the polls on March 4, with a good chance there will be a runoff of the top two vote-getters in June.

But even as the presidential election took away attention and resources, the candidates were aggressively raising money and collecting endorsements. The latest is Salma Hayek, who endorsed Eric Garcetti in a video that the campaign released today. The campaign also has slated a Feb. 7 fundraiser at the Henry Fonda Theater headlined by Jimmy Kimmel, Will Ferrell and Moby.

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel was endorsed by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen back in 2011. Jan Perry has the endorsement of Dick Van Dyke, who co-hosted a fundraiser for her in November, citing her work in addressing the problem of the homeless downtown. And Kevin James hopes to break through in part with his notoriety as a radio talk host.

The candidates will be at UCLA this evening for a debate that will be moderated by Conan Nolan and aired on NBC 4.

Update: Hayek's spot is below. It is a bit unusual for a celebrity endorsement spot --- she calls him "this guy Eric Garcetti," and notes that he is a chef, gardener, professor, former military officer and an "amazing dancer" --- but irreverence seems to be the point.