$5,000 Cap Suggested : Gallegly Ignores Rival’s Spending Limit Proposal

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) will not respond to a request by his Democratic opponent, Don Stevens, that he agree to a voluntary $5,000 campaign spending limit, an aide to the congressman said Thursday.

Stevens, a Thousand Oaks attorney and president-elect of the Conejo Valley Bar Assn., called for the spending cap and restrictions similar to those adopted for state and local lawmakers last month in a July 1 letter to Gallegly.

“We respect Mr. Stevens’ right to run his campaign, and we hope he respects our right to run our campaign,” John Frith, Gallegly’s press secretary, said Thursday in reaction to Stevens’ letter.

Asked whether that was Gallegly’s complete response to Stevens’ proposal, Frith replied: “There will be no response.”

He said he was not authorized to provide an explanation. Gallegly was unavailable.

Without limits, Gallegly is likely to outspend his Democratic challenger heavily in the predominantly Republican 21st District that includes southern Ventura County and parts of the west San Fernando Valley.

Stevens, who has not sought any contributions, said he has received $505 and has spent $1,287 of his own money on filing fees and other expenses. Gallegly raised more than $200,000 for his June 7 primary campaign and said he spent about $160,000 to crush a well-financed challenge by real estate developer Sang Korman.

There are no federal spending limits for congressional candidates.

Stevens said California voters demonstrated their opposition to skyrocketing campaign spending with their overwhelming approval of Proposition 73 last month. Among the measure’s provisions that Stevens asked Gallegly to adopt are a ban on taxpayer-funded newsletters of 200 or more--a key tool for incumbents to ingratiate themselves with voters--and a prohibition against the transfer of funds from one candidate’s committee to another’s.

“I hope you agree that massive campaign spending is a waste of money,” Stevens said in his two-page letter to Gallegly.

In an interview, however, Stevens acknowledged that, in part, he was making a virtue of necessity. He said he had contacted Rep. Tony L. Coelho (D-Merced), the ex-chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, about obtaining financial support for his race.

“They felt that if I was a movie star with some name recognition or some other unusual attributes, like holding prior political office, they would consider it,” Stevens said of the DCCC. “But under the circumstances, they were concentrating on other campaigns.”