Cost to Winner Predicted at $1 Million : 33rd Senate District Race Hits Record Spending Pace

With less than five weeks remaining before the Nov. 8 election, candidates in the race for the 33rd State Senate District seat--which has attracted statewide attention and money--are on a record spending pace for a California legislative seat.

Political observers predict that it may cost the eventual winner $1 million to capture the seat, and recently released documents to show that both incumbent Democrat Cecil N. Green and Republican Don Knabe are well on their way toward topping that figure.

Green, 63, had raised $601,441 in cash and non-monetary contributions as of the end of last month, while Knabe, 44, had received cash and in-kind contributions totaling $481,563, according to campaign finance records filed Wednesday with the secretary of state’s office. The reports cover all contributions and expenditures for California legislative candidates from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 of this year.

Both campaigns are being heavily bankrolled by state party leaders and strategists who have targeted the race. Both Republicans and Democrats believe the race is one of the few in California that is up for grabs and thus could play a pivotal role in deciding who will control the Legislature when reapportionment begins in 1990.

Races Expensive

Spending has become the hallmark of recent races in the district, where Green won the seat in a special election in May, 1987, over Republican Assemblyman Wayne Grisham of Norwalk. The two candidates spent a total of nearly $3 million in that race.

The district spreads across northwest Orange County and southeast Los Angeles County, and includes the cities of Norwalk, Downey, Bellflower, Cerritos, Artesia and parts of Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens and Santa Fe Springs.

The Democratic leadership in Sacramento has again given the green light to spend what it takes to retain the seat and defeat Knabe, a former Cerritos City Councilman and Los Angeles Supervisor Deane Dana’s chief aide.

When asked about the winner needing to spend $1 million, a Green campaign aide, Larry Morse, replied: “We’d like to spend less, but we are prepared to match (the Republicans) dollar for dollar. We will spend what it takes.”

Records show that Green, a former Norwalk city councilman, surprised many observers with his victory last year. The $601,441 he raised in cash and non-monetary contributions as of Sept. 30 includes $106,000 from nine fellow Democrats in the State Senate and $20,000 from a political action committee controlled by Senate Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles).

Union support, which played a key role in Green’s win last year, is apparently still solid. He received $127,048 in contributions from union locals or union-controlled political action committees, including $25,000 from the California State Council of Service Employees, one of the state’s largest unions.

Green had $59,798 in cash on hand at the end of the reporting period, contrasted with $101,283 for Knabe.

Green had spent $504,278, including $150,000 to pay off debts from last year’s special election. The balance of the money has been used to build the type of “ground campaign” successfully waged on Green’s behalf last May, Green’s spokesman Morse said.

“We relied on precinct walkers, phone banks and some direct mail to spread the senator’s message,” Morse said. “It takes money to gear up such an operation. But we think it’s the most effective way to reach voters in this district.”

Knabe has received $481,563 in money and in-kind contributions, including $134,000 in cash from a political action committee controlled by GOP state senators. The state Republican Party has spent about $110,865 to produce, print and send literature on his behalf, his campaign statements show. Knabe’s expenditures totaled $310,449, with much of it going for direct mail and radio advertisements, which feature conservative TV and radio commentator Bruce Herschensohn.

“In races like this you have to rely on outside support,” Knabe said. “Historically, not a lot of money has been raised in this district, so to be viable we have to go outside the district.”