More Candidates Bankrolling Own Campaigns : Politics: Many say it keeps special interests away. Less-endowed challengers are nervous, reformists wary.

Before she burst on the Orange County political scene, supervisorial candidate Haydee V. Tillotson and her husband were busy amassing a fortune in real estate, personal business and investment holdings.

Financial documents filed with the registrar’s office show the Tillotsons’ portfolio valued at more than $2.2 million, with holdings ranging from mobile home parks and utility companies to Wal-Mart stores and beachfront property.

Tillotson said the figure is a “very conservative” number, and by Orange County standards the family’s considerable wealth might pass as unremarkable. But Tillotson’s choice to bankroll an expensive campaign--with $342,000 in personal loans--for one of Orange County’s premiere political jobs has spotlighted an emerging local movement that has campaign reformists and less-endowed candidates nervous.

Campaign reports filed last week show that a number of candidates are drawing on their own resources to cast themselves as serious contenders in the June 7 primary election.

Consider:

* In the crowded 70th Assembly District race, Republican businesswoman Marilyn C. Brewer has loaned her campaign $180,000 from personal and business accounts. In the same race, Thomas G. Reinecke has reported personal loans of $12,500.

* Jim Morrissey, a Republican candidate for the 69th District seat, loaned his campaign $60,000. One of Morrissey’s June primary rivals, Judy Buffin-Edge, has raised a total of $9,600--one-tenth of Morrissey’s total. Buffin-Edge has loaned herself $5,215.

Virgel L. Nickell, who ran unsuccessfully for the same seat two years ago, launched the current campaign with a $50,000 loan debt. It was unclear whether the $50,000 was a personal loan, and Nickell could not be reached for comment.

The only one bucking the trend in the 69th Republican primary, according to the latest campaign finance statement, was Martin Ageson, who has advanced his Assembly campaign just $1,872.

* Personal money also is fueling the supervisorial campaign of Huntington Beach businessman John A. Thomas, who with Tillotson has become a contender based largely on loans of nearly $50,000. But it is Tillotson who has dug deepest of any of the local candidates, reporting personal loans of $342,000.

Tillotson and others have defended their expenditures as calculated attempts to remain free from special interests who may seek to influence future policy. But others have cast a more wary eye.

Bob Stern, co-director of the California Commission on Campaign Financing, called candidates’ increasing reliance on personal funds--especially in the form of loans--among the “worst forms” of campaign money.

Stern said the potential for fund-raising corruption only increases in tight races where cash-poor candidates sometimes are tempted to stretch their fund-raising efforts to match their wealthy counterparts. Also, there are few rules that would restrict successful candidates from retiring their own debts with fund-raisers while in office.

In the worst cases, Stern said, the money advantages can discourage otherwise attractive candidates from even entering races.

“Money gets you an awful lot of respect and publicity in politics,” Stern said. “What it can also do for wealthy candidates is freeze out those who don’t have the same means.”

Longtime activist Shirley Grindle, who has helped author campaign contribution policy throughout Orange County, said the rules do not regulate personal loans. But she is considering amendments to local laws that could restrict how wealthy candidates use their money.

“I think there is a history to show that (personal loans) can create an artificial spending contest in a political race,” Grindle said. “When election day gets close, people start to go crazy trying to match what the other person has. They refinance homes, forge signatures on checks and get caught up in that urge to win.”

As the primary draws near in Orange County and candidates look to final campaign assaults to distinguish themselves from a crowded and competitive field, money is looming as a critical campaign concern, especially in the five-way supervisorial race involving Thomas and Tillotson.

The other main contenders, Linda Moulton Patterson and James W. Silva, both Huntington Beach City Council members who have been relying heavily on individual campaign contributions, said the recession has cut deeply into their fund-raising abilities.

And both have publicly criticized Tillotson’s use of large personal loans as an attempt to “buy the election.” Neither Moulton Patterson nor Silva, who have raised about $60,000 and $70,000 respectively by individual contributions, can come near Tillotson’s loan totals.

“Money is extremely tight out there,” Silva said. “I had a fund-raiser recently where I made $3,000. Three years ago, that same event would have brought in at least $40,000.”

With the race nearly certain to go to a runoff, Silva said the last weeks of the campaign will be extremely critical and could leave Tillotson with an advantage “that could sway the outcome.”

Moulton Patterson, the Huntington Beach mayor, said the Tillotson money points up a need for campaign spending limitations.

“It would be a real shame if it affected the election,” Moulton Patterson said. “But I think people really respect candidates who go out and raise funds on their own.”

Tillotson and Thomas, however, see their campaign funding strategy as a much cleaner way of doing business.

Starting with virtually no political base, Tillotson sees her loans as equalizers in a race where Silva and Moulton Patterson have been able to use the power of their municipal offices to gain visibility.

“We’ve had to at least double or triple our spending to build up name identification,” Tillotson said recently. “I’m not denying that we have been successful in business,” Tillotson said. “But I don’t think a lot of money can guarantee anything.”

Thomas, a former Huntington Beach councilman, has literally papered the district--from Costa Mesa to Huntington Beach--with street and yard signs to place his name before the voters.

Like Tillotson, Thomas said his reason for using personal loans was to show that he would not feel obligated to his contributors.

“The only place you can raise money is from the special interests,” Thomas said. “By not having to do any fund-raisers, I’m able to use my time better.”

Thomas, who founded the Thomas Crane & Trucking Co. in Huntington Beach, said he will continue to use personal funds for the remainder of the campaign, but there are limits.

“I could probably afford it, but I won’t spend that much,” he said, referring to Tillotson’s loan totals. “If you’re out there spending that much, people begin to wonder why you want the job so badly.”