Press, Collis Dominate Fund-Raising Race

Reports filed by the seven announced candidates for state insurance commissioner show that two Democrats, Board of Equalization member Conway Collis and television commentator Bill Press, are far ahead of all others in collecting campaign money, together accounting for about $7 of every $8 given in the race.

At this early stage, special-interest money from lawyers and the insurance industry is not a high proportion of the total given.

With most candidates refusing to take insurance industry money, the lawyers--who have a major stake in how insurance is regulated--nonetheless have a sizable edge in what money has been given by the two big interests.

Other groups often allied with the lawyers--medical groups and chiropractor associations--also are beginning to give in sizable amounts.

The latest reports bring total contributions in the race through Jan. 1 to nearly $1 million. Collis led with $519,059, although $245,000 of the total was money he loaned his campaign. Press was second with $356,224. Former Common Cause director Walter Zelman, also a Democrat, was third with $74,404. The rest trailed far behind.

Republican insurance agent Wes Bannister collected $33,655; Republican tort-reform advocate Tom Skornia, $11,500; Democratic trial attorney Ray Bourhis, $2,500, and Alhambra City Councilman Micheal Blanco, a Democrat who had not started his campaign on Jan. 1, nothing.

The heavier giving to Democrats may reflect views in political circles that Democrats, often identified with consumer interests, stand a better chance than the Republicans of electing the new commissioner when the post becomes elective for the first time this year.

Rick Taylor, Press’ campaign manager, accused Collis over the weekend of trying to create a false impression that Collis had received more money than Press by taking out a second mortgage on his house and putting the money into his campaign.

Questioning whether Collis would ever spend the money he has lent his campaign, Taylor recalled that six years ago, Collis paid a $12,000 fine for overstating contributions to an earlier campaign in what the California Fair Political Practices Commission charged was an attempt to gull other contributors into giving by claiming his campaign was stronger than it was.

Collis, saying the 1984 fine represented only a foul-up in the transfer of funds from one campaign to another, said that in this race he intends to spend the full amount of his loan.

Collis also noted that he had more funds on hand as of Jan. 1 than Press, who had spent most of what he had raised. Collis had $377,310 on hand to Press’ $79,164.

Press and Collis have both solicited contributions from members of the politically potent California Trial Lawyers Assn.

In the latest report, Collis showed at least $85,750 in contributions from lawyers, although he told The Times that only $21,000 of that total came from trial lawyers--who, along with industry defense lawyers, benefit the most from insurance cases.

Press collected at least $53,500 from lawyers, meanwhile, and Zelman at least $20,000. Neither of these campaigns indicated how much of that came from trial lawyers.

Collis acknowledged receiving about $6,000 from insurance agents. The agents often differ with the insurance companies on insurance issues. Both the Collis and Press campaigns accused each other of taking a few contributions from company owners or investors, but the sums involved were not sizable.

As the campaign heats up, lawyer and insurer contributions to the various campaigns will be closely watched, since a major issue in the race is which side the new commissioner will lean toward.

Press reported close to $50,000 in contributions from a wide array of labor unions, and both he and Collis had many contributions from perennial political givers in California. In fact, a few contributors gave small amounts to each of the three leading Democratic campaigns.

In an unusual twist, JoAnn Shernoff, an aide in the Collis campaign, gave $500 to the Zelman campaign. Collis’ manager, Bill Zimmerman, said Zelman had offered Shernoff a job before Collis did and she had wanted to show there were no bad feelings.