Senate’s GOP Leader High on List of Donors : Politics: Common Cause report says Rob Hurtt and his conservative PAC have surpassed traditional special interest groups in funneling money to legislative campaigns.

As it seeks to place a campaign reform initiative on next year’s ballot, California Common Cause reported Wednesday that Senate GOP Leader Rob Hurtt and his conservative allies have become the No. 2 and No. 3 largest donors to state legislative races.

The political watchdog group’s analysis of campaign finance reports for 1993 and 1994 shows that Hurtt individually and his firm, Container Supply Co., gave $1.2 million to get Republicans elected to the Legislature.

Allied Business PAC, of which Hurtt is a member, gave an additional $1.08 million to legislative races.

Combined, the donations from Hurtt and the separate political action committee surpass the largest single donor, the California Teachers Assn., which gave $1.3 million, primarily to Democrats.

Individually, Hurtt ranked second and Allied was third, ahead of political heavyweights such as the California Medical Assn., the California Trial Lawyers Assn. and the Assn. of California Insurance Companies.

“The top 10 list is distinguished by the extraordinary rise and political influence of Rob Hurtt and Allied Business PAC,” said Ruth Holton, director of California Common Cause.

Donations from Hurtt and Allied amounted to the lion’s share of funds raised by several candidates. One, Sen. Ray Haynes (R-Riverside), a leader of antiabortion forces in the state Senate, received $319,000 for his 1994 campaign, with $166,000 coming from Allied, which now is called California Independent Business PAC.

“The fact that one person and their company can essentially buy members of the Legislature is, I think, a frightening prospect,” Holton said.

Hurtt, responding to the criticism, pointed out that even with his money, the top 10 givers on Common Cause’s list donated more money to Democrats than to GOP candidates.

He called the system “skewed” toward Democrats, adding: “I’m trying to unskew it. It’s so blatantly skewed now it’s obscene. The whole system is rotgut. All I’m trying to do is get it to a level playing field.”

Hurtt, of Garden Grove, said he simply asks that in exchange for his largess, candidates adhere to Republican ideals such as lower taxes and smaller government. In contrast, he said, other major donors have specific concerns, ranging from better pay and benefits for union members to more profits for their various industries.

Hurtt’s goal as Senate GOP leader is to seize a majority in the upper house in 1996. Republicans already control the Assembly. Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, Hurtt’s Democratic rival, called the Common Cause report “frightening in its implications for working people.”

“In this case, it’s even more frightening because the rich guy in question is the leader of the extreme radical right in California,” Lockyer said.

Common Cause’s report, an annual event, comes as the organization pushes to place an initiative on the ballot in November, 1996, to limit donations to $100 for local races, $250 for legislative races and $500 for statewide races.

Under the proposal, candidates could receive donations of twice those sums if they agreed at the start of a campaign to strict spending limits, ranging from $200,000 for an Assembly general election to $8 million in a general election for the governor’s office. As it is, California places no limits on campaign donations or spending.

Common Cause is the largest donor to the initiative, at more than $100,000. Other major supporters include the American Assn. of Retired Persons, the League of Women Voters and United We Stand member Lois Rozet of Los Angeles, who has given $75,000 in donations and loans.

Common Cause’s initiative would not apply to initiatives, because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that there could be no spending or donation limits for ballot measures.

In all, the Common Cause report shows, the top 10 donors gave more than $9 million to state legislative races in the 1993-1994 election cycle. Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown received the most, $612,000, which he doled out to other Assembly Democrats.

Most of Brown’s money came from traditional special interests, ranging from teachers to insurance companies. Those donors continued their practice of giving mostly to incumbents and spreading their money to both parties.

Hurtt and Allied gave most of their money to challengers, all of whom were Republicans. Most are conservatives. Hurtt, who wrested the Senate Republican leadership post from moderate Sen. Ken Maddy of Fresno in August, also gave $440,000 to the California Republican Party.

Holton said legislative term limits are doing little to limit large donations. Freshmen Assemblymen Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana), Phil Hawkins (R-Bellflower) and Steve Baldwin (R-El Cajon) and state Sen. Dick Montieth (R-Modesto) each received more than $120,000 from Hurtt and Allied.

“I think I frighten her,” Hurtt said of Holton. “I give a lot of hope to a lot of other people. I think I’m setting the example for other Republican business executives. They certainly have it within their ability to become a very integral part of the political system.”

Hurtt is one of five donors to Allied Business PAC. The largest is Howard Ahmanson, a wealthy conservative Christian who spends heavily on conservative causes, think tanks and lawmakers.

Danielle Madison, executive director of the political action committee, said its goal is to elect fiscally and socially conservative Republican candidates, but not to control their votes once they are elected.

“We’re not buying seats,” Madison said. “We’re funding people who represent the views of the constituents. We’re just giving the underdogs enough money to get their message out.”

Times staff writer Eric Bailey contributed to this story.