Reports Put Contributions to Feinstein at $10.7 Million

Democratic candidate for governor Dianne Feinstein raised more than $4.9 million in the three months ending Sept. 30, bringing her total intake this year to more than $10.7 million, according to financial reports released Saturday.

The reports indicate Feinstein had a relatively paltry $686,733 remaining in the bank by Sept. 30 for the final general election push, which on its face would put Feinstein well behind her Republican opponent Pete Wilson, who had $3.3 million in the bank.

But the number is deceiving. It does not include an estimated $2 million expected to be raised by Feinstein in major fund-raisers last week and this week. Nor does it include another $2 million she is expected to raise because of a federal judge’s decision to void California’s $1,000-per-person campaign financing limits.

The financial figures were included in reports each political campaign was required to file with the secretary of state’s office by midnight Friday. Each covered the period beginning July 1 and ending Sept. 30.

Feinstein was able to raise bulk donations for three days between the decision to lift financing restrictions and the end of the filing period. Campaign officials said the impact of that window of opportunity was unclear.

According to the new figures, Feinstein out-raised Wilson in the just-concluded filing period, $4.9 million to $4.5 million. But he outspent her, nearly $5.2 million to $4.9 million.

Overall, the $10.7 million raised by Feinstein since the beginning of the year outpaced on paper the $8.8 million raised by Wilson. But nearly $3 million of Feinstein’s contributions came in the form of loans to the campaign from Feinstein and her husband, investment banker Richard C. Blum.

Wilson also entered the year with millions in the bank, giving him an added advantage. While on paper he has raised less than Feinstein, the two candidates have spent almost the same amount of money. Feinstein has spent $10.4 million to Wilson’s $10.5 million.

Feinstein began collecting bulk donations after the campaign financing restrictions, known as Prop. 73, were lifted. But Wilson has declined to do so. An aide said Friday that the senator is awaiting a review of the law by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist before making his move.

The two candidates, who are running neck-and-neck in polls as they head into the final month of the campaign, will meet today in a debate to be televised statewide. Locally, the debate can be seen at 6 p.m. on KNBC-TV, one of the debate sponsors, and on other local stations.

Feinstein received a pre-debate boost Saturday from the California League of Conservation Voters, which offered her its endorsement. Feinstein earlier had received the backing of the state’s largest environmental group, the Sierra Club.