Governor’s Campaign Outspends Bradley by More Than $2 Million

Banking hefty contributions from business and agriculture, Gov. George Deukmejian’s reelection campaign this summer outspent Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s organization by more than $2 million, according to campaign finance reports made public Tuesday.

With $3.8 million in the bank on Sept. 30, Deukmejian was able to donate nearly $293,000 of the money he had raised to the Republican Party, largely for a mailing of absentee ballot applications.

Bradley, the Democratic challenger, finished the reporting period with only $633,885 in cash on hand, and reported taking out loans of about $270,000.

In the three months beginning July 1, Deukmejian raised $3.15 million and spent $4.46 million, compared to the $2.44 million that Bradley raised and the $2.32 million the mayor spent.

“I think it’s critical for a campaign to save its resources so you can finish strongly and aggressively, and we’ve done that,” said Larry Thomas, director of the Deukmejian campaign. “The sand has gone through the hourglass, and it seems to be stacking up pretty nicely for us,” he added.

“The governor is engaging in an orgy of spending,” said Ali Webb, press secretary for the Bradley campaign. “But the amount of money . . . does not always dictate the outcome of the election.” She said major Bradley fund-raisers scheduled before Election Day could raise another $1 million to $2 million for the mayor.

Echoing a longstanding Bradley campaign theme, Webb said some of the substantial contributions to Deukmejian make it “very clear that (the governor) is influenced by wealthy special interests.”

Referring to Webb’s “orgy” remark, Thomas said, “I think its the characterization of someone who is presiding over a bankrupt campaign. . . . “

According to the finance reports, the largest contributor to the Deukmejian effort was the the Newport Beach-based Western Growers Assn. The 2,500-member trade group, which represents fruit and vegetable growers in California and Arizona, donated $100,000 during the summer months, boosting its total giving to $210,250.

“George Deukmejian has been a proven supporter of agriculture in this state,” said Mike Stuart, senior vice president of the association.

Agriculture in general has been very generous to the governor, with the latest report showing dozens of $100 to $500 donations from individual farmers and nurserymen.

Another major backer is the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., which represents the state’s 13,000 prison guards. The association gave Deukmejian $50,000 in the last reporting period, for a campaign total of $89,000.

“Our people have been treated very fairly under George Deukmejian,” said the association’s chief lobbyist, Jeff Thompson. Increased pay and retirement benefits under Deukmejian, as well as moral support, have reduced the annual turnover rate among prison guards from 25% to about 11% or 12%, Thompson said.

Other major donors to the governor included George Mason, a stockbroker with the Los Angeles office of Bear Stearns & Co., who gave $40,000; the Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., which gave $35,000; Santa Anita race track, which gave $10,000 over the summer for a total of $20,000, and the E & J Gallo Winery, which also donated $10,000, bringing its total to $20,000.

Bradley’s money came largely from traditional supporters: organized labor, builders and land developers, attorneys and the entertainment industry.

Labor organizations, for example, contributed more than $125,000. That figure includes two donations totaling $32,500 from the California Teachers Assn., the largest amount given by a single group or individual.

Contributions to the Bradley effort from entertainment industry figures included $5,000 each from Gene Autry and Herb Alpert; $3,500 from Lew Wasserman, president of MCA Inc., the conglomerate that owns Universal Studios; $3,000 from record producer Quincy Jones, and $1,000 from David L. Wolper, who produced the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1984 Olympics and the Liberty Weekend festivities in New York last July 4.

Bill Cosby was not listed among the contributors, but Webb, the Bradley campaign press secretary, said the comedian raised at least $65,000 for Bradley in the last three months. Cosby personally solicited donations of $25,000 from a Chicago bus repair company, $15,000 from a Maryland petroleum company and $25,000 from a Michigan woman who had never before given to Bradley, Webb said.

In May, Cosby headlined a Bradley fund-raiser at the University of New Mexico, Webb added. “The mayor and he have been longtime friends,” she said.

Dynamic Builders Inc., a general contractor that has constructed about 450 buildings in the downtown Los Angeles area, helped Bradley’s effort in three ways. The company’s president, Ramon Bonin, donated $15,000. The company itself gave $10,000 and loaned $50,000 to the Bradley campaign. Dynamic Builders is currently developing a 10 1/2-acre industrial park at Santa Fe Avenue and 11th Street, southeast of downtown.

Other developers gave the mayor another $50,000 in $10,000 contributions.