Airbnb spent millions on LA’s 2026 elections, backing candidates for mayor, city attorney, and City Council. Its two biggest bets failed, but the company helped reelect Traci Park in June and spent heavily supporting two council candidates who could still join her at City Hall.

As LAist reported this week, former Councilmember Mike Bonin suggested Airbnb’s next move may be to “count to 10,” the number of council votes needed to override a mayoral veto. With Airbnb pushing to expand short-term rentals ahead of the 2028 Olympics, the battleground has shifted to the recomposed City Council, where the company may try to cash in on its political investments by assembling enough votes to push its agenda through over Mayor-elect Raman’s objections.

Airbnb wants LA to loosen its short-term rental restrictions ahead of the 2028 Olympics, allowing owners to rent out second homes and investment properties currently excluded under the City’s primary-residence requirement. The company argues that expanding vacation rentals would accommodate visitors and generate additional tax revenue. Housing advocates warn that it would create more incentives to take homes off the long-term rental market.

Nithya Raman has opposed expanding short-term rentals and promised stronger enforcement of existing restrictions. But Airbnb doesn’t necessarily need her support. It would ordinarily take eight council votes to pass an ordinance and ten to override a mayoral veto. Ten votes is a high bar, and mayoral veto overrides are rare in LA. In March 2021, the Council voted 11-4 to override Eric Garcetti’s veto of a plan to redirect funds cut from the LAPD budget. According to city officials at the time, it was the first override of Garcetti’s nearly eight years in office. Earlier councils also overrode vetoes by Tom Bradley and Richard Riordan, but such confrontations have been the exception.

So where would Airbnb find ten votes? Assuming Tim Gaspar and Jose Ugarte win their races, at least six members of the incoming 15-member Council will have documented financial ties to Airbnb. That includes campaign spending supporting candidates and charitable donations made at elected officials’ requests.

Airbnb-backed committees spent more than $1 million supporting Gaspar in CD3 and more than $300,000 supporting Ugarte in CD9. In 2024, an Airbnb-sponsored political committee contributed $1.6 million to a political action committee supporting Adrin Nazarian in CD2 and Heather Hutt in CD10. Airbnb has also cultivated relationships through behested payments, charitable donations made to outside organizations at elected officials’ requests. The company made $570,000 in donations at Park’s request and another $25,000 at Councilmember John Lee’s request.

Taken together, that puts at least six council seats within the reach of Airbnb’s documented political spending, before accounting for any additional contributions, independent expenditures, or behested payments involving other councilmembers. None of this establishes how those officials will vote, but it offers a stark picture of the company’s efforts to influence City Hall.

The CD3 race is particularly important. Outgoing Councilmember Bob Blumenfield has been a vocal opponent of Airbnb, warning that expanding vacation rentals would encourage landlords to convert long-term housing into tourist accommodations. His potential replacement, Gaspar, has received more than $1 million in Airbnb-backed election support, and the company has identified him as a supporter of expanding short-term rental rules. If Gaspar wins, Airbnb could turn a reliably skeptical council seat into a potential ally.

The vacation rental ordinance remains in committee and has not reached the full Council for a vote. There is no publicly established ten-vote coalition supporting it, and the Council previously removed related vacation rental proposals from the City’s budget. But Airbnb has nearly two years before the Olympics and a clear financial incentive to keep pushing.