If Money Talks in Campaigns, Some Have a Lot More to Say

Self-Help: Louise Gelber, an Arcadia attorney who is running against Assemblyman Richard Mountjoy (R-Monrovia), has loaned $84,296 of her own money to her long-shot campaign.

Mountjoy, who has long portrayed Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) as the epitome of everything evil politically, said Gelber must be expecting an infusion of campaign cash from Brown’s political allies to repay the loan. Otherwise, he said, “it doesn’t look like the brightest investment in the world. Nobody puts that kind of money (on a Democratic candidate) into a district that is 51% Republican.”

But Gelber, who began practicing law in El Monte in the 1940s, said she mortgaged her house to raise cash for her campaign without any expectation of repayment. “I’ve received nothing from the Speaker,” Gelber said. “There’s no promise of money.”

She said she is spending her own funds because “I believe in what I’m doing. I owe the government for my education. I want to do good.”

According to campaign statements for the period ending Sept. 30, Gelber had raised $127,511, including the money she loaned herself. She began October with $51,072 remaining in her campaign fund. Her largest contributions were $3,200 from a San Gabriel roofer, Warren Cross, and $3,000 from a Downey medical group.

Meanwhile, Mountjoy reported $136,511 in contributions and had $82,067 in cash on hand. Major donors included an insurance industry political action committee, which gave $3,000, and Rep. David Dreier (R-La Verne), who transferred $4,000 from his own campaign.

No Problem: Ordinarily a candidate with nickels and dimes in his campaign fund facing an opponent with $50,000 would acknowledge he’s in trouble, but not Jonathan Fuhrman, the Democratic nominee in the 44th Assembly District, centered in Pasadena.

Fuhrman said he is actually encouraged by the latest campaign filings that show Republican Bill Hoge with $50,591 in the bank compared with his $697. Hoge raised $329,821 but spent most of it on a tough primary race. Democrat Fuhrman raised $8,497.

Fuhrman said that although he doesn’t have any money himself, Hoge doesn’t have much left either, so Hoge is unlikely to bury him with an avalanche of mailers.

In addition, Fuhrman said, the campaign reports are somewhat misleading because they do not reflect the benefits he will receive from a united campaign headquarters that Democrats are running in Pasadena. The joint effort, which collects and reports money separately from the candidates, has already raised nearly $75,000 to help the Democratic ticket, from the presidential race down to the Assembly level. The help will include a joint mailer for Democratic candidates, Fuhrman said.

Despite Fuhrman’s optimism, the political action committees, which usually channel large amounts of money only to candidates they think will win, are clearly convinced that Hoge is on his way to Sacramento. Hoge’s report is full of contributions from political action groups, including $7,000 from a chiropractors’ lobby, $5,000 from an insurance lobby and $6,000 from Santa Anita. The National Rifle Assn. has chipped in $17,500 so far.

Usual Disparity: Incumbents almost always out-raise their challengers in legislative races in the San Gabriel Valley, and 1992 is no exception.

Take the 29th State Senate District, for example. Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) reported $247,714 in contributions as of Sept. 30, leaving him with $116,273 in cash on hand to battle Democrat Sandy Hester. She had $448 left from the $20,234 she raised.

Hester is running a vigorous campaign, speaking to as many groups as she can despite the funding gap.

But not all challengers are so dauntless. Democrat Stan Caress said he was planning an energetic campaign against Assemblyman Paul V. Horcher (R-Diamond Bar) until he went to Sacramento and learned that Democratic leaders weren’t going to give him any campaign help because the 60th Assembly District has too many Republicans. As of Sept. 30, Caress had $285 left after raising $2,330. Horcher, meanwhile, has raised $250,187, spending most of it on a tough primary fight, but he had nearly $25,000 in cash on hand.

Short Subjects: The Pasadena United Democratic headquarters will hold a $25-per-person fund-raiser from 2 to 5 p.m. today at the home of Molly Munger and Steve English, 450 S. San Rafael Ave., Pasadena. John Emerson, who heads California’s Clinton/Gore campaign, will speak. . . . A group of Pasadena organizations will sponsor a forum for district attorney, congressional, state Senate and Assembly candidates at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Pasadena Central Library.

More Short Subjects: Candidates in the 28th Congressional and 59th Assembly districts will speak at a forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at El Roble Junior High School, Harrison and Mountain avenues in Claremont. The sponsors also invited candidates in the 29th State Senate District, but Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) declined, saying he had a prior commitment. . . . Hill and Democratic opponent Sandy Hester will meet at a forum at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Whittier Hilton Hotel along with candidates for county supervisor and the 58th and 60th Assembly districts. . . . The American Civil Liberties Union Pasadena-Foothill chapter will discuss ballot issues at its meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena.