McCarthy Fund Raising Gains Ground, Reports Show

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy’s Democratic campaign for the U.S. Senate is beginning to put some meat on its bones, according to the latest financial disclosure statements that show McCarthy narrowing the fund-raising gap with Republican Sen. Pete Wilson.

McCarthy raised just over $867,000 since the first of the year, compared to Wilson’s $1.29 million. During the previous six months, McCarthy’s fund raising was outstripped by Wilson $2.4 million to $776,000. However, the latest reports show that Wilson continues to have substantially more cash on hand--just over $3 million compared to McCarthy’s $750,000. McCarthy also reports $284,000 in debts.

Recent patterns of campaign spending point to very different political strategies. A spokesman for Wilson said Wilson devoted close to half of his expenditures since the beginning of the year to television advertising, while McCarthy aides said that more than half of what he raised was poured back into the campaign’s fund-raising operation.

“We decided early in this campaign to concentrate on building a donor base that would provide the money we will need for TV in the fall,” said Darry Shragow, the director of the McCarthy campaign.

Meanwhile, Wilson spent a whopping $900,000 on getting his television message out during March alone, said his campaign manager, Otto Bos. Moreover, there does not seem to be any break in the trend, with Wilson unveiling a new series of ads that began airing in cities throughout the state this week.

The plan behind Wilson’s ad blitz was to develop a positive image in the wake of polls that said about 30% of California voters did not know much about the low-keyed senator after his first five years in office. The early TV campaign is also meant to inoculate Wilson against an anticipated media attack by McCarthy. Wilson’s ads paint a picture of a frugal, philanthropic public official who donates his pay raise to charity, blows the whistle on wasteful government spending, stands up for a strong defense and takes a leadership role in congressional efforts to combat crime and drugs.

With some public opinion polls indicating that Wilson has widened his lead over McCarthy since the ads began airing in March, spokesmen for Wilson say they believe that the media campaign is on the right track. McCarthy, on the other hand, has lacked the money necessary to launch a comparable TV offensive.

The candidates’ financial reports indicate that Wilson spent about $700,000 more than he raised since the first of the year, and that McCarthy spent about $60,000 less than he raised.

Just over $1 million of the contributions to Wilson came from individuals while $221,000 were from political action committees. McCarthy received about $721,000 from individuals and a little over $135,000 from political action committees.