ELECTIONS : Cathie Wright, Challenger Wage Expensive Primary Battle

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) and her GOP challenger, Hunt Braly, have poured nearly $400,000 since January into their bitter primary-election battle, making it by far the most expensive San Fernando Valley-area race this year, campaign reports released Thursday showed.

The reports--the last before the June 5 election--also showed GOP congressional candidate Sang Korman outspent Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) by more than 3 to 2 this year, aided by a $200,000 loan from himself to his campaign, while raising less than half as much from outside contributors.

Wright, 61, reported spending $231,810 since Jan. 1 in her effort to win a sixth term in the 37th Assembly District, which covers northern and western Los Angeles County and portions of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. She raised $130,805 in the same period.

Braly, 35, has spent $158,202 since the beginning of the year while raising $139,518, including a $60,000 personal loan he made to his campaign, his expenditure statement said.

The race has erupted into an expensive, high-stakes struggle as Wright tries to fend off Braly’s charges that she misused her official position by trying to fix her daughter’s traffic tickets.

The candidates have filled Republican mailboxes in recent weeks with half a dozen slick brochures apiece attacking each other and touting their respective platforms. The cost of the mailings represents about two-thirds of the candidates’ overall campaign budgets.

Wright spokesman Carlos Rodriguez charged that the fact Braly is loaning money to his campaign “is a sure indicator” he lacks sufficient community support to win. “When he has to loan himself money to run for public office . . . that’s pathetic,” Rodriguez said.

Braly said he has taken in more money than “any other primary challenger in the state” and that he has enough cash to wage a strong campaign.

Gallegly and Korman faced off two years ago for the GOP nomination in the 21st Congressional District, which covers northern and western Los Angeles County and southern Ventura County. In that race, Korman, a wealthy Korean-American real estate developer, personally loaned his campaign $245,000.

Gallegly, a conservative first elected in 1986, reported raising $176,500 this year and spending $98,623. His contributions included $25,498 from political action committees representing special interest groups.

In addition to the $200,000 personal loan, Korman’s report said he has raised $73,446 since the beginning of 1990 from individual contributors, the majority of them Korean-Americans. Korman’s campaign spent $168,768 during the same period.

Korman spokesman Brad Durrell said his candidate must spend significantly more than Gallegly to overcome “the power of the incumbency.”

“Challengers who win tend to spend more money,” he said. “Mr. Gallegly gets free newsletters, he gets free staff, he gets a free 800 number. He gets a lot of perks to communicate with his constituents.”

Spending reports also showed that Northridge real estate broker Paula Boland has a heavy fund-raising lead in the five-candidate race for the GOP nomination to succeed retiring Assemblywoman Marian La Follette (R-Northridge).

Boland has taken in $112,113 since Jan 1, while her nearest competitor, La Follette aide Rob Wilcox, raised $56,634. Attorney Bob Scott reported raising $52,274, including a loan from himself of $30,914.

Boland said her fund-raising lead “is like a victory. . . . I feel we’ve got a win already.” But Scott and a spokeswoman for Wilcox both said they have sufficient money to run good campaigns.

Among the individuals and groups contributing to Boland were the California Right to Life organization, wealthy Valley car dealer H.F. Boeckmann, and Robert Wilkinson, a lobbyist for the proposed Porter Ranch development.

Another candidate, Hal Styles, said he spent $700. The fifth candidate, martial arts teacher Al Thomas, could not be reached for comment.