Democratic Candidates to Share in Dinner Proceeds : Brown Raises $700,000 for Assembly Races

Assembly Democrats will be the beneficiaries of $700,000 raised at a $550-a-plate dinner Sunday night commemorating the fifth anniversary of Willie Brown’s election to the powerful post of Assembly Speaker.

Brown (D-San Francisco) will hand out the proceeds of this and other fund-raisers to Democratic allies for their reelection campaigns and to hand-picked Democratic challengers in hopes of increasing the 47-33 margin over the Republicans.

The Speaker and many of his Assembly colleagues met Monday at the Century Plaza, where the dinner took place the night before, in the first of a series of strategy meetings.

Brown said the Democrats plan to beat Gov. George Deukmejian to the punch in January with a “State of the State” message of their own, to be delivered shortly before the governor’s traditional speech to the Legislature, which is scheduled for Jan. 9.

“It will not be a response to the governor’s speech,” the Speaker said. “It will outline where our priorities lie, what should be done about them, and how to do it. We will do that early on--before the governor’s speech.”

The life-or-death power that the Speaker holds over bills in his house was reflected among the 1,320 guests, including many of Sacramento’s top lobbyists, who attended Sunday night’s dinner.

In addition to many of Brown’s Democratic colleagues, there also was a sprinkling of Republican members in attendance, including Assemblyman Gerald Felando of San Pedro, who is the GOP caucus chairman.

Asked why he went to the dinner, Felando said, “I think when the Speaker invites you to a fund-raiser, its not a bad idea to attend.

“Besides, if I wasn’t here, I wouldn’t know who else was here, would I?”