Campbell Still Owes $400,000 From ’86 Race

Sen. William Campbell still owes more than $400,000 from his failed 1986 bid for the office of state controller, leaving him further in debt than any statewide officeholder or member of the Senate or Assembly, according to recently filed campaign disclosures.

Of Campbell’s debt, $350,000 is owed to private companies, including $70,000 to three Orange County real estate developers. The rest is owed to individuals and fellow politicians who lent him money to help finance the 1986 campaign.

Campbell, a Hacienda Heights Republican who represents parts of Orange County stretching from Brea to Laguna Niguel, faces reelection this year to the Senate seat he has held since 1976. He said he intends to raise about $500,000 during 1988 to finance his Senate campaign and repay the loans to his campaign for controller, a race he lost to former Assemblyman Gray Davis.

“We have met with all of them (his creditors), and we have been working out a payment schedule,” Campbell said in an interview. “They’ll all be paid back by the end of this year.”

During 1987, a non-election year, Campbell’s two campaign committees raised $269,813 and spent $292,299, a part of that to pay back campaign debts.

Meanwhile, Campbell and the 11 other state lawmakers who represent parts of Orange County and had no elections last year spent a total of $1.81 million during 1987 keeping their campaign machines well oiled for the 1988 election year. The dozen legislators raised a total of $1.86 million.

Those figures do not include the activity of Sen. Cecil Green (D-Norwalk), who reported raising $2.1 million and spending $1.7 million during 1987, when he was elected to the Senate in a special election to replace former Sen. Paul Carpenter of Cypress. Carpenter resigned from the Senate after he was elected to the State Board of Equalization.

Successful Fund Raiser

Among the county lawmakers who did not face elections last year, Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) was the most prolific money-raiser, bringing in $306,349. Assemblyman Dennis Brown, a Republican who represents the Orange County coast from Seal Beach to Huntington Beach, was tops among the county’s eight Assembly members with $265,532.

Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) ended the year with the largest campaign war chest among Orange County lawmakers. Bergeson, who considered running for Congress before deciding last month to seek reelection to the Senate, had $194,442 in the bank as of Dec. 31 after raising $93,930 during 1987.

If the past holds true, none of the county’s 12 Republican lawmakers will face a serious challenge in 1988. Much of the money they have already collected and will raise in the coming months will probably go to support their colleagues from other parts of the state who face tighter races.

Like the others, Campbell is not expected to face much competition in holding on to his Senate seat. As of Tuesday afternoon, no one had filed papers to run against Campbell in the Republican primary in June, and only one Democrat, Janice Lynn Graham, had filed to run in that party’s primary. Today is the deadline.

Nevertheless, Campbell has a tough year ahead of him if he intends to repay the loans he still has outstanding from the 1986 campaign.

Campbell’s now dormant controller campaign committee owes $47,500 to the campaign committees of other GOP politicians. And the controller campaign owes $76,950 to Campbell’s other committee, which coordinates his state Senate races. Those kinds of loans, in a pinch, can be and often are forgiven and converted into contributions from one political committee to another.

More troublesome for Campbell are debts he owes to 11 private companies and individuals. These loans total $350,000.

The largest is to Technosearch, a New York-based venture capital firm, which lent Campbell’s committee $100,000 and has since been repaid $25,000. Campbell owes John Bedrosian, a Los Angeles businessman, and Don Messick, a San Juan Capistrano businessman, $65,000 each.

None of those three creditors could be reached for comment.

Campbell owes three Newport Beach real estate developers a total of $70,000. The largest loan is from the Irvine Co., which lent Campbell $50,000. He also owes $10,000 each to the William Lyon Co. and the J.M. Peters Co.

Larry Thomas, vice president for corporate communications for the Irvine Co., said the firm expects to be repaid.

“It was made as a loan and in our view is outstanding as a debt that the senator has an intention of repaying,” Thomas said. “We are not concerned that his intention is to walk away from it. They have been diligent and responsible in staying in touch with us about what their plans are.”

Brian Theriot, a spokesman for the J.M. Peters Co., said that company has a similar attitude about the $10,000 it lent Campbell’s campaign committee.

“As I understand it, we have not forgiven the debt,” Theriot said. “We would hope in good faith to be paid back. But it’s not like we’re going to go out and report him to TRW,” he quipped in a reference to the giant credit-rating firm.

Bill Hooper, the owner of Student Insurance Division of Los Angeles, said he is not pressing Campbell to repay the $20,000 his company is owed by the campaign.

“I don’t have an agreement on when, but they are going to pay it back,” Hooper said. Hooper said Campbell and his chief aide, Jerry Haleva, are “probably the nicest people” he knows in politics.

“They’re almost like family,” he said.

Haleva said Campbell had intended to repay the loans during 1987.

“We anticipated the cash flow would allow them to be paid off within six to 12 months,” he said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Five hundred thousand dollars is a big nut to crack.

“Sen. Campbell takes the loans to his campaigns very seriously,” Haleva added. “He considers them to be obligations he has to deal with fairly and responsibly.”

SEN. WILLIAM CAMPBELL’S CAMPAIGN DEBT

Creditor Location Amount Int. Rate Sen. Ken Maddy Fresno $25,000 0 City Councilman Hal Bernson Los Angeles $10,000 0 Assemblyman William Lancaster Covina $10,000 0 Sen. Edward R. Royce Anaheim $2,500 0 Tropicana International Brea $15,000 0 Student Insurance Division Los Angeles $20,000 0 Care Enterprises Orange $20,000 8.5% James Braswell Enterprises Yucaipa $10,000 8.5% Technosearch Inc. New York $75,000 8.5% John Bedrosian Los Angeles $65,000 8.5% Don Messick San Juan Cap. $65,000 8.5% Irvine Co. Newport Beach $50,000 8.5% J.M. Peters Co. Newport Beach $10,000 0 William Lyon Co. Newport Beach $10,000 0 John O’Donnell Newport Beach $10,000 0

Source: Campaign Finance Statements

WHAT LEGISLATORS RAISED AND SPENT IN 1987

Member Amount Raised Amount Spent *Cash on Hand Sen. Marian Bergeson $93,930 $139,199 $194,442 Sen. William Campbell $269,813 $292,299 $32,769 Sen. Cecil Green $2,141,802 $1,708,384 $33,062 Edward R. Royce $150,205 $125,423 $66,270 John Seymour $306,349 $221,808 $141,426 Doris Allen $64,185 $65,007 $40,485 Dennis Brown $265,532 $121,716 $179,007 Gil Ferguson $180,155 $213,459 $85,495 Robert C. Frazee $29,225 $50,612 $15,560 Nolan Frizzelle $65,878 $75,344 $8,819 Ross Johnson $136,793 $180,866 $6,694 John R. Lewis $102,336 $192,685 $49,939 RichardLongshore $203,780 $129,313 $3,188

* Includes funds from previous years.

Source: Campaign Finance Statements