Cox Reports Raising Over $500,000 in 40th District

C. Christopher Cox, one of three leading contenders in the heated race for the Republican nomination in the 40th Congressional District, has topped the $500,000 mark in fund raising, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Thursday.

As of the May 18 reporting deadline, Cox, former White House senior associate counsel now living in Newport Beach, had raised $505,374, of which $80,000 was a loan from himself. As of the same date, Newport Beach businessman Nathan Rosenberg had raised $436,138, and Irvine Councilman C. David Baker, $322,763, the commission reports showed.

The three men are locked in a tight race--with a total of 12 Republicans vying for the coveted 40th District seat being vacated by Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach). Because the district is so heavily Republican, the candidate who wins the go-for-broke June 7 primary is expected to walk away with a victory in the November general election.

Perhaps more important than the amount he has raised is the fact that Cox’s most recent report to the commission showed a healthy $218,674 balance in his campaign account going into the final days of the race. That will enable him to continue an aggressive mail effort that has already included negative campaign mailers on both Baker and Rosenberg.

Cox’s report showed he raised $158,909 in the last reporting period, from April 1 to May 18. Lawyers from his former law firm, Latham & Watkins, contributed $11,750. In all, Cox has now received more than $71,000 from attorneys and others at the firm.

Among other Cox contributors were Orange County developer Don Koll and four of his key executives, each of whom contributed $1,000.

Of the three major GOP candidates, Rosenberg received the highest number of contributions from outside Orange County during the reporting period, records show. About 48% of Rosenberg’s contributions came from individuals and political action committees outside the county, compared to 31% for Cox and 13% for Baker.

In the first reporting period, Jan. 1 to March 31, Cox received 52% of his money from outside the county, Rosenberg 49%, and Baker 31%.

Early in the campaign, Cox said, he had to rely on his college, professional and Washington ties for money, with a majority of the contributions coming from outside the county. But in recent weeks, he said, the contributions have come increasingly from inside the county, from people who “feel the way I do about continuing the Reagan Revolution.”

Cox has based much of his campaign on his longtime support of President Reagan, although it was disclosed this week that Cox failed to vote for Reagan’s reelection in November, 1984.

Autrys’ Contribution

During the April 1 to May 18 period, Baker raised $155,559, about $100,000 from a Cinco de Mayo dinner, the commission reports show. Among the organizers of the event were the owner of the California Angels, Gene Autry, and his wife, Jacqueline, who contributed $2,000. Baker also received a $1,000 contribution from Irvine Co. chairman Donald L. Bren.

“I’m satisfied with what we’ve raised,” Baker said. “You would always like to have more, but we’re in very good shape.”

Baker’s report showed a cash-on-hand total of $67,789.27.

Of Cox’s success at attracting contributions, Baker said: “He continues to boast about his long list of supporters, but most of them are from out of the county. If I was a voter, that would concern me.”

Rosenberg raised $92,451 in the seven-week period ending May 18, according to his report, but had only $473 in unspent cash on hand at the end of that period. Rosenberg said that this reflects his plan to pay for the campaign “backwards.” By that he means that many of the basic expenses of the campaign already have been paid through Election Day, Rosenberg said.

“All our salaries are paid; all our mail is paid, all our rent is paid; all of our telephones are paid; all our fund raisers are paid. . . ,” Rosenberg said. “Our plan is basically on rails now, and we have the ability to respond.”

Attorney William Yacobozzi Jr. of Newport Beach had the fourth highest fund-raising total in the 40th District. A political unknown who is considered a long shot at best, Yacobozzi has raised more than $394,000, but nearly all of it is in the form of loans from himself. He ended the reporting period with $217,157.46 on hand. He said most of that will be spent on mail in the remaining days of the campaign.

None of the other eight Republicans has raised more than $50,000. The two Democrats in the race, Laguna Beach Councilwoman Lida Lenney and George Margolis, have raised less than $10,000 each, as have the two minor party candidates, Libertarian Roger Bloxham and Peace and Freedom Party challenger Gretchen Farsai.

Wieder Top Fund-Raiser

In the 42nd Congressional District race, Harriett M. Wieder was the top fund-raiser with about $267,000 as of the May 18 reporting deadline, according to figures released by her campaign staff.

Wieder, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, is running against seven Republican candidates to replace Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) in the heavily GOP district, which includes parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties. She raised $92,308 in the most recent reporting period and had a cash-on-hand balance of $138,504, her staff said. Wieder did not make her FEC report available to reporters.

Among Wieder’s three chief competitors, former Cal State Long Beach president Stephen Horn had raised $193,344 for his campaign as of May 18, more than half of it in the latest reporting period. Horn had $71,594 on hand as of May 18.

The campaign’s next biggest fund-raiser was Andrew Littlefair of Torrance, who had raised about $167,675 as of May 18, according to his campaign staff. Littlefair, a former White House advance man, raised about $96,556 in the latest reporting period and had $15,415 on hand as of May 18.

Ex-presidential speech writer Dana Rohrabacher of Palos Verdes Estates had raised $123,067 as of May 18--$44,576 of it since April 1. He had $58,132 on hand at the end of the reporting period. Rohrabacher is counting on several campaign appearances on his behalf Wednesday by former Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North to generate cash for the last days before the primary.

Bob Welbourn, a former Palos Verdes Estates city councilman, has raised a total of $79,208 for his campaign and had $24,992 on hand, according to his campaign.

Don Davis of Palos Verdes Estates reported raising $163,838 in his long-shot effort, but $150,053 of that was a loan to himself. He had $138,837 on hand.

None of the remaining candidates in the race--Republicans Jeffrey Burns of Huntington Beach, a carpenter, Thomas Bauer of Torrance, an aerospace scientist; Democrats Ada Unruh of Torrance and Guy Kimbrough of Huntington Beach, or Peace and Freedom Party member Richard Rose of Long Beach--raised more than $5,000, so they did not have to file FEC reports.