Seymour Leads in Fund-Raising for Lt. Governor’s Race

State Sen. John Seymour has won the first round of a fund-raising battle between Orange County’s two candidates for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor, taking in more than twice the contributions collected by fellow Republican Sen. Marian Bergeson since Jan. 1.

Campaign reports for the first six months of 1989 show that Seymour of Anaheim received $353,646, compared to $139,578 for Bergeson of Newport Beach.

Bergeson, however, made up for that shortfall by transferring almost $225,000 into her statewide effort from surplus campaign funds held by her state Senate election committees. With that, Bergeson shows $335,450 cash on hand--only about $13,400 less than Seymour.

The campaign reports, to be mailed to the secretary of state’s office by midnight Monday, represent the first round of fund raising in the race for the lieutenant governor’s primary election in June, 1990.

On the Democratic side, incumbent Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy’s campaign statement shows that he has raised $222,375 in the first six months of 1989, while spending $30,530.

Seymour and his political consultant, Eileen E. Padberg, said the reports show that the Anaheim senator has political clout statewide, not just in Orange County.

Padberg said a breakdown of Seymour’s contributions show that 45% come from Orange County donors, with the remaining 55% drawn from people and organizations throughout the state, especially from Realtors.

“That’s what it takes to win,” Seymour said Tuesday in a telephone interview from San Diego, where he was trying to line up additional support.

“In order to get one second of television time in Los Angeles and San Francisco, it will cost you $1,750. . . . That translates into a budget of $1.5 million to $2 million, and you’re not going to get that kind of money out of Orange County,” he said.

Seymour and Padberg said there were several factors that helped his fund-raising efforts outside of Orange County. Realtors responded because he is the former president of the California Assn. of Realtors, while Republican donors know Seymour because he coordinated statewide fund-raising efforts for President Bush and U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) in 1988.

Bergeson, meanwhile, emphasized that she began her fund-raising efforts at the end of June--several months later than rival Seymour, who began his campaign push in mid-February. The campaign statements cover the period up to June 30.

“Considering the time, which was less than a month’s time, to raise the money that we did was certainly very encouraging,” said Bergeson.

Bergeson’s campaign treasurer, Lindi Kacic said that about $100,000 of the $139,594 raised by Bergeson came from Orange County donors, all of whom gave the maximum of $1,000.

Bergeson said most of her donations come from Orange County because raising money there was the “easiest, because that was the base that I have established.”

Now, she said, she will be working to find donors throughout the state. Her target is a campaign war chest totaling $750,000 by Christmas.

The campaign reports also show that Seymour has outspent his Orange County legislative colleague several times over. Seymour has spent $108,367 while Bergeson has spent $29,847.