Countywide : Lagomarsino’s Foe Wants Spending Cap

Candidate Anita Perez Ferguson has challenged incumbent Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) to limit campaign spending in the November election to $400,000 for each candidate in the 19th Congressional District race.

But a top aide to Lagomarsino, who in 1988 helped wage the most expensive congressional race in the country, dismissed the challenge as an act of demagoguery that cannot be taken seriously.

Ferguson issued the challenge in a July 17 letter to Lagomarsino. “I would like this to be viewed as a model campaign and not viewed, once again, as the most expensive campaign in the country,” she wrote.

But the Lagomarsino camp was not impressed. “I find it surprising and amateurish that she would release this statement to the press prior to hearing from us, therefore it is not hard to conclude that it is demagoguery,” Lagomarsino campaign manager Reb Wayne said.

“Given those circumstances, it’s hard to take it seriously,” Wayne said. But he said Lagomarsino would issue a formal response later this week.

In 1988, Lagomarsino and state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) spent about $1.5 million each in the race that Lagomarsino won by less than 1%. Ferguson, an educational consultant, is a former aide to Hart.

This year, campaign spending has dropped considerably, mostly because Ferguson is having a tough time raising large cash contributions. So far, she has raised about $6,000 in donations and spent $12,000, a campaign aide said.

Meanwhile, Lagomarsino has raised about $150,000. He has also outspent his opponent 2 to 1 while leaving most of his cash reserves untouched.

“Bob Lagomarsino has always done what he thinks is necessary to win the election and no more,” Wayne said.