Lungren and Davis Scramble; Checchi Opens Checkbook

While Democratic millionaire Al Checchi simply wrote checks to finance his campaign for governor, Republican Dan Lungren and Democrat Gray Davis spent last year raising money the old-fashioned way--they scrambled.

Davis, the lieutenant governor, started 1998 with $3.8 million in the bank, compared with Lungren’s $2.7 million and Checchi’s $656,000, according to reports filed with the state this week. Both he and Lungren, the state’s attorney general, flew across California and across the country prospecting for money.

While they were tapping traditional sources of money for their respective parties, Checchi vastly outspent them, plunking down $7.25 million, mostly to pay for commercial time on television to introduce himself to voters. Davis spent $919,000 last year, Lungren $1.6 million.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Torrance), who announced her candidacy for governor Wednesday, had no filing.

The campaign finance reports, covering the last half of 1997, provide a first snapshot of where these candidates hope to get their money. And there will be far more flowing in a campaign that will cost the Republican and Democratic nominees about $30 million each by the time it is over.

In his quest for the Democratic nomination against Davis and Harman, Checchi raised no money from anyone other than himself. He gave his campaign $4.75 million in November and December. The former chairman of Northwest Airlines has an estimated worth of more than $550 million.

As career politicians, Davis and Lungren have no such bank accounts, so they are turning to the more traditional political donors.

Lungren raised significant sums from farmers, the insurance and financial industry, oil and timber interests and manufacturers. Davis turned to Hollywood, Wall Street and lawyers. He got modest sums from Indian gambling concerns.

Lungren and Davis were restricted by fund-raising limits imposed by voter-approved Proposition 208, under which donors could give no more than $1,000 each to the candidates.

A federal judge in Sacramento struck down the initiative last month. Now, candidates can raise unlimited sums from individual sources. Spokesmen for both campaigns say they already are seeking larger sums from contributors.

In the second half of 1997, Davis and campaign aides traveled several times to Wall Street and elsewhere in the country. Davis got about 18% of the $673,000 he raised from out of state, his report shows. Garry South, Davis’ campaign manager, noted that California candidates often turn to New York and elsewhere for money.

“There is a national fund-raising network of givers who are interested in who’s the governor of the biggest state,” South said.

Although he was the only traditional Democrat campaigning for governor last year, Davis received paltry sums from donors who identified themselves as part of organized labor, or as groups affiliated with public education, which often help fund Democrats.

South said labor unions and donors involved in public education did not give to Davis’ campaign last year because of restrictions imposed by Proposition 208. If they donated to Davis, South said, they would have been precluded from making larger so-called independent expenditures on his behalf during the campaign.

“That is not accidental,” South said of the lack of union money. “Most of those groups did not want to close the option [of making independent expenditures] by giving money directly to the candidate.”

Davis’ biggest single source of money in the last half of 1997 was lawyers--about $125,000 of the $673,000 he raised during that period. Some are trial lawyers who represent plaintiffs suing in personal injury cases. Trial lawyers are one of the largest sources of money for Democrats.

Davis also turned to Hollywood, receiving about $63,000 from people who listed occupations in the entertainment industry. Actor Michael Douglas and singer Nancy Sinatra were among the contributors.

For his part, Lungren also raised money from lawyers--at least $131,000--including many large firms that have contracts with the state to handle litigation and bond work.

And the attorney general has tapped a mainstay of Republican support: farming. He received at least $66,000 from ranchers and farmers. Among his donors was Ernest and Julio Gallo, the country’s largest wine producer. Gallo family members, among the nation’s largest political givers, gave at least $9,000 to Lungren in the second half of 1997.

The insurance, financial and real estate industries gave at least $157,000.

Among the largest bloc of Lungren donors were executives, agents and employees of Farmers Insurance. They gave Lungren $15,000, most of it in increments of $130, an amount well below the limits that were in effect at the time.

Lungren, who early in his tenure as attorney general attacked Hollywood for violence in movies, received little money from the entertainment industry, although he did receive $1,000 from Jack Valenti, chairman of the Assn. of Motion Pictures, Arts and Science.

He also went to major individual Republican donors, including John Walton, of the Wal-Mart fortune. Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley gave him $1,000, and members of Mayor Richard Riordan’s law firm gave him $2,000.

Neither Davis nor Lungren took money identifiable as coming from the tobacco industry. Lungren stopped taking money from tobacco firms in 1995, and won’t accept money from much of the gambling industry.

“It’s just not worth having to explain [tobacco contributions],” said Dave Puglia, Lungren’s campaign spokesman. “That’s a statement on the image of the tobacco companies in America today.”