Boxer Gains in Raising Contributions : Campaign: Democrat took in at least $500,000 more than her two Senate primary opponents during last half of 1991.

Outpacing every major Democratic candidate in California, Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae) raised $1.5 million in contributions during the last six months of 1991 in her bid to capture one of two open U.S. Senate seats, campaign reports released Friday show.

Boxer’s fund raising from July through December exceeded by more than $500,000 the amounts garnered by each of her two Democratic competitors--Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy and Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), who remained the overall leader by a large margin with $3.7 million on hand.

“The conventional wisdom has been that Barbara Boxer would be a strong candidate if she could raise money,” said Rose Kapolczynski, Boxer’s campaign manager. “It’s great to know that we are solidly in the middle of the race, money-wise.”

Only Republican Sen. John Seymour surpassed Boxer, logging $1.6 million in contributions. Others who raised seven-figure sums during the last six months in 1991 were Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Stanford), who collected $1.4 million; former TV commentator Bruce Herschensohn, $1.2 million, and Dianne Feinstein, whose campaign spent nearly all of the $1.1 million she collected.

The 10 major candidates seeking Senate seats reported gathering nearly $17 million in contributions during the year leading up to the 1992 elections.

The reports suggest that candidates for Sen. Alan Cranston’s seat will need more money to be successful. Democratic candidates Levine, McCarthy and Boxer raised a combined $6.3 million in 1991 while Republicans Campbell and Herschensohn took in nearly $4 million.

“The good news there is whoever wins the Republican primary is going to be just as broke as the Democratic side,” said Roy Behr, McCarthy’s campaign manager.

The third Republican candidate, Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono, would have finished the year in the red had he not made a $45,351 personal loan to keep his campaign solvent. Bono ended the year with $10,624 in campaign funds.

“We literally just started an aggressive fund-raising campaign,” said Bono campaign manager Bill Lacy. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. People are going to have to judge us on the basis of the next report rather than this one.”

The $10.3 million in contributions raised in pursuit of the Cranston seat surpassed the combined $6.5 million collected by the four major candidates vying for the two-year seat vacated by Gov. Pete Wilson.

As Wilson’s choice to fill his seat in the Senate, Seymour can count on President Bush and the Republican Party to help him raise funds. Last year, Seymour received $2.8 million and spent $1.8 million--more than any Senate candidate.

Seymour reported the highest amount of money--$316,800--from political action committees last year. He ranked ahead of Campbell, who had $293,075 in political action committee money, and Levine, $213,885.

Seymour’s opponent in the June 2 primary, Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), lent his campaign $1.1 million last year while raising $808,304 in contributions. Dannemeyer, who is a lawyer, generated much of his wealth by investing in California real estate.

On the Democratic side, state Controller Gray Davis, who is regarded as a skilled fund-raiser, collected $464,827 during the last six months of 1991--ahead of only Bono among all major Senate candidates. Yet, because of a transfer of $893,933 left over from his 1990 reelection campaign, Davis has $1.5 million on hand. This ranks behind only Levine, who transferred $1.7 million from his House campaign, and Campbell, who transferred $612,461.

Feinstein, Davis’ opponent in the Democratic primary and the former San Francisco mayor, invested heavily in expensive direct mail and telemarketing campaigns to raise money among small donors. As a result, she reported $766,777 on hand, despite raising nearly $2 million last year.

The most spent by any Democrat on a Senate race during the latter part of 1991 was $1.5 million by Boxer, who was the first candidate to air television commercials last fall to try to attract the attention of women voters after the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings. Two-thirds of the money Boxer raised within the state came from Southern California, Kapolczynski said.

Boxer had $1.25 million in campaign funds at the end of the year.

“We are pretty excited that we out-raised both Levine and McCarthy for this period,” Kapolczynski said. “Levine in the last period raised $1.7 million. . . . We were startled that his fund raising has seemed to stall.”

Levine, whose fund-raising prowess is based in Hollywood and West Los Angeles, did not schedule a large event during the last six months similar to the $1 million he raised one night early last year at the Beverly Hilton. Levine press secretary Hope Warschaw depicted the gains made by Boxer as “extremely deceptive.”