Eckert Beating Foes in Election Fund Raising

San Diego County Supervisor Paul Eckert still holds a commanding lead in fund raising for the primary election race in the 5th Supervisorial District, and Eckert’s closest challenger has raised more than a third of his money from outside San Diego County, public reports filed Friday show.

Eckert, seeking his third term in the North County district, has raised almost twice as much money as his three major challengers combined, according to the reports and interviews with the candidates and their consultants.

As of Dec. 31, Eckert had raised $94,623. Since then, he has taken in another $9,000, for a total of about $103,000, said Herb Williams, Eckert’s political consultant.

Eckert’s three major opponents--Carlsbad City Councilman Richard Chick, Oceanside Councilman John MacDonald and Escondido lawyer Clyde Romney--have raised a total of about $54,000. Chick has raised $25,380 and MacDonald $8,764, according to Friday’s reports. Romney, who was not required to file a report Friday, said in an interview that he has raised about $21,000 since Jan. 1.

Almost half the $19,900 Chick raised in the most recent reporting period--Sept. 18 through Dec. 31--came from sources outside San Diego County. More than $3,700 came in 17 contributions from principals and employees of Kaufman and Broad, a Los Angeles firm developing the 1,600-unit Kelly Ranch in Carlsbad.

Kaufman’s chairman, Eli Broad, and the company’s chief executive officer, Bruce Karatz, and their spouses each contributed $250 to Chick’s campaign. Chick also got money from the company’s president, an executive vice president, two senior vice presidents, a vice president for planning, an attorney, the director of engineering, the marketing director, the director of land acquisition, an engineer and a project manager.

Chick, who voted for the Kelly Ranch plan when it came before the Carlsbad council and spoke in its favor at a Coastal Commission hearing last year, said he knew two of Kaufman’s employees through the Kelly project and his own brief work with an engineering firm associated with Kaufman.

“I asked them for some help and they came through pretty strongly,” Chick said. “I guess they just passed the word--give Dick a hand.”

Karatz, the company’s chief executive, said he hadn’t known the extent of his employees’ contributions to Chick.

“I’m not surprised,” Karatz said. “On a project of this size, you work with a lot of people. It’s people who have forward thinking and a good interest in their community who ought to be supported in elections.”

Chick, a realtor, said many of his contributions have come from outside San Diego because his first money-raising efforts were with his old friends and associates, many of whom are developers and realtors with their home offices in Orange County and Los Angeles. By comparison, Eckert’s report showed $37,600 raised in the most recent period, with all but $2,000 of that coming from sources within the county.

“I initially contacted the friends I have, wherever they are,” Chick said. “The idea is to win the race, and it takes money to do it. You need start-up money, and you naturally go to your friends.”

Eckert’s report showed he has already spent more than $55,000 on the campaign, leaving him with almost $44,700 in the bank as of Dec. 31. Chick had $11,380 still on hand, while MacDonald had $4,200. The election is June 3.