Davis, Lungren Stockpile Funds for Governor’s Race

Democratic Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and Republican state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren already have compiled substantial war chests for their prospective 1998 campaigns for governor, their campaign finance officials reported Wednesday.

With the election more than two years away, Davis’ campaign committee reported cash on hand of $1.8 million. Lungren had slightly more than $1 million.

Both men have been working vigorously this year to amass big campaign treasuries as a means of discouraging potential competitors while there is no limit on individual campaign contributions in California.

The fund-raising situation could change dramatically after the Nov. 5 election if voters approve either of two campaign reform measures that would place strict limits on personal campaign contributions.

Proposition 208 would limit individual contributions to $500 for statewide offices and Proposition 212 would impose a $200 limit. Each measure also would create a fund-raising blackout during portions of the year preceding an election.

So far, Lungren appears to have no serious challenge for the Republican nomination to succeed Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who is barred by term limits from seeking a third term.

Lungren is serving his second term as the state’s chief law enforcement official. Davis is in his first term as lieutenant governor after serving two terms as state controller.

One of Davis’ potential foes for the Democratic nomination is his successor as controller, former Los Angeles businesswoman Kathleen Connell. Connell reported $291,000 in cash on hand as of the end of June.

Also Wednesday, the proponents of Proposition 209, the initiative that would ban government-sponsored affirmative action programs for women and minorities, reported $41,564 in the bank as of June 30. Supporters spent more than $1 million to qualify the measure for the Nov. 5 ballot.

The report from the No on 209 campaign was not available.

Wednesday was the deadline for political committees to file reports on their fund-raising and spending activities for the first six months of the year.

Since the reports only needed to be postmarked by the end of the day, many were not yet on file, Secretary of State Bill Jones’ office said.

Davis, a former Assembly member and chief of staff to former Gov. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr., collected $938,486 during the six-month period to go with a carry-over balance of more than $1 million.

Connell raised $206,544 and Lungren $815,947 during the first six months of this year.

Also mentioned as potential Democratic candidates for governor are Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who narrowly lost the governorship to Wilson in 1990, and White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta, a former member of the House from Monterey.

Feinstein, who battled Davis in a bitter 1992 primary for the Senate, also is a prodigious fund-raiser, but could be hamstrung if either Propositions 208 or 212 passes and withstands certain legal challenges.

California voters approved campaign contribution limits in 1988, but the measure was nullified by the state Supreme Court in September 1990, setting off a fund-raising flurry by both Feinstein and Wilson.

State political experts have said that it costs about $5 million to run an effective contested gubernatorial primary campaign. Wilson and Democratic nominee Kathleen Brown each spent about $20 million in the 1994 contest for governor.