Roberts’ War Chest Grows Heavier : Elections: The mayoral candidate adds $100,000 to his campaign, but still trails Golding in total funds.

San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts easily surpassed his three major rivals in fund-raising for the 1992 mayor’s race during the past 2 1/2 months, collecting more than $100,000, according to documents the candidates filed Monday.

Roberts, with a total campaign war chest of more than $128,000 to date, still trails San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding by a substantial margin in total cash amassed for the race to succeed San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor. Roberts raised just over $90,000 in cash and non-monetary contributions and added a $10,000 personal loan to his campaign in the most recent reporting period.

“We’re on track,” said John Whitehurst, Roberts’ campaign consultant. “This is what we set out to do.”

Golding consultant Tom Shepard said Roberts “is just going back right now and getting money from the people who previously contributed to him in his (1991) City Council race. I think it’s rather remarkable that, with a base of (more than) $300,000 in the council race, he’s only been able to raise $90,000.”

Aides to all four major candidates in the race--the other two are financier Tom Carter and growth management advocate Peter Navarro--said the economic slump and the large number of competitive races have hurt their fund-raising efforts.

Golding’s fund-raising slowed in January and February when she reorganized the staff in charge of that effort, Shepard said.

Outsiders Carter and Navarro showed a continued willingness to bankroll their own campaigns with sizable loans. The amount of money Navarro might contribute from his bank account, which he has already tapped for $65,300 with the primary still more than two months away, is considered a “wild card” in the race by some of his opponents.

Navarro, founder of Prevent Los Angelization Now!, declined to predict how much of his own money he might spend. “It’s going to be tough without going into debt pretty heavily,” he said. “This is a financial hardship, no doubt about it. But I feel the stakes are high, and the city’s in trouble.

“I’m having to mortgage my future to save the future of San Diego,” he said.

Golding, who started her fund-raising in mid-1991 while Roberts was seeking reelection to the council, garnered $46,716 during the current reporting period of Jan. 1 to March 17, and has collected more than $204,000 in cash and non-monetary contributions to date.

Carter raised $37,189 and loaned his campaign another $30,000, giving him a total of more than $108,000 so far--$40,000 of it from his own pocket.

Luke Breit, Carter’s campaign consultant, said the candidate’s fund-raising has picked up as his name identification with voters has grown. Carter had the lowest profile of any candidate in the race when the campaign got under way at the start of the year.

“People are returning (Carter’s) calls because they know those numbers have changed,” Breit said.

Navarro dipped even deeper into his own pocket during the reporting period, raising just more than $19,000 in cash and non-monetary contributions during the reporting period and loaning his campaign $39,300.

Navarro has raised more than $111,000 to date, substantially more than half of which came from his own funds.

Navarro, who has sought to portray his candidacy as a grass-roots effort that will rely heavily on volunteers, acknowledged that he cannot compete with his three rivals for large contributions.