Labor, Trial Lawyers Pour Millions Into Davis’ Coffers

In August, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Gray Davis sat before health care providers and assured them that his biggest campaign dollars had not come from unions and trial lawyers.

“If you want to talk cold turkey about who was there when you needed them, they were not there,” Davis told a dozen potential contributors from a coalition that often locks horns with organized labor and malpractice lawyers. “Unions were preoccupied . . . and a lot of trial lawyers thought I couldn’t make it--too dull, too boring.”

It would have been shocking enough that unions and trial lawyers, two of the deepest pockets for Democratic candidates, had shunned the party’s front-runner during the primary, just when he needed them most.

But records show that these two groups had contributed prodigiously to Davis, pouring millions of dollars into his primary and general election campaign. By Sept. 30, they had pumped more than $7 million into his candidacy, providing more than a third of his campaign financing.

In the meeting with health care leaders, Davis, who has long enjoyed the largess of organized labor and trial lawyers, was seeking to allay fears that the two interest groups would wield inordinate influence if he were elected governor. His campaign manager would later say he really meant that neither group had contributed substantially in the early days of the primary campaign, when his candidacy was on the ropes.

Even so, the episode provides a rare glimpse into the private fund-raising efforts of a candidate eagerly seeking to broaden his political and financial base and raise the millions needed to compete in the nation’s most expensive gubernatorial election.

Davis and his rival, Republican state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, are expected to spend more than $45 million between them. Davis is leading in the financial competition, having raised $21 million to Lungren’s $17 million. Besides labor and trial lawyers, the entertainment industry has opened its wallet to the tune of $2 million, financial services providers have donated nearly $1.5 million, real estate interests have given more than $1 million and Indian tribes involved in gaming have contributed more than $300,000.

But the backbone of Davis’ campaign came as it has in past elections from traditional Democratic donors--organized labor and law firms that represent plaintiffs in civil actions.

The outpouring eclipsed anything labor and the trial lawyers had contributed to gubernatorial candidates in recent elections, outstripping donations they made to the campaigns of Kathleen Brown, the Democratic nominee in 1994, or Dianne Feinstein, the nominee in 1990.

Support Is Both Blessing, Curse

For Davis, the backing has been both a blessing and a curse. While providing a strong financial base, it also impeded his ability to raise money from groups that have vastly different agendas from unions or trial lawyers.

So Davis was careful to downplay their involvement in his campaign when he met Aug. 28 in San Francisco with a dozen representatives of Californians Allied for Patient Protection, a coalition of health care providers that control thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

In the past, the member groups had mostly given to candidates who shared their views on medical malpractice issues, which often are at odds with trial lawyers who represent victims of injuries, defective products and physician negligence.

To their surprise, Davis told the group that his position on malpractice issues was actually in sync with theirs--a comment that prompted one member to quickly ask how he could remain in their camp when he traditionally received strong financial support from trial lawyers and unions.

“Do I feel allegiance?” the candidate said in tape-recorded remarks that were later transcribed. “Yes, but not to the groups that the newspapers say I feel allegiance to, ‘cause they were not there for me for a variety of reasons.

“Rich Republicans,” he said, got him through the primary, a reference his campaign manager later said was to a handful of contributors such as A. Jerrold Perenchio, who is majority owner of the Spanish language network Univision.

California Medical Assn. Executive Vice President Jack Lewin, who attended the meeting, said the group found Davis’ message reassuring.

“Before meeting with Mr. Davis, [the coalition] was clearly predisposed toward Lungren,” Lewin said. “After that meeting, there was really openness toward both candidates.”

The latest campaign reports show that the coalition’s member groups have since given Davis more than $40,000.

Davis declined a request for an interview. But his campaign manager, Garry South, said the candidate was only lamenting the extent of labor and trial lawyer support during the first three months of the year, when he was being outspent by his millionaire rivals in the primary race, Al Checchi and Jane Harman.

In that time frame, South said, most of the contributions and fund-raising efforts came from individuals, including some Republicans. And he said special interests such as labor and trial lawyers did not start giving large amounts until April, when Davis began moving up in the polls.

“A candidate remembers who was there when the going was tough a hell of a lot more than they do who was piling money on at the end when it looked like you were a sure winner,” South said.

Davis’ statement did not seem to dampen the support of labor leaders contacted by The Times.

“Frankly, I seriously doubt he had us in mind when he made those statements,” said Perry Kenny, president of the California State Employees Assn., which has donated $355,000. “We have been with Gray since the beginning of the primary. We believe he will be an excellent governor.”

Labor and trial lawyers see Davis’ election as an opportunity to regain access to the governor’s office, reverse the anti-union policies of Gov. Pete Wilson and ensure that a Democratic chief executive oversees the once-in-a-decade redrawing of legislative and congressional boundaries.

“This a pivotal election,” said Frank Russo, president of the California Applicants Attorneys Assn., a coalition of lawyers who handle workers’ compensation cases. “We’ve suffered under 16 long years of Republican governors. . . . Our members are overwhelmingly supporting Gray Davis.”

For labor, the election comes after a bruising eight years under Wilson, who was able to eliminate the requirement that workers be paid overtime for more than an eight- hour day, stall labor’s legislative agenda and force it to spend millions to defeat hostile initiatives.

Earlier this year Wilson backed and campaigned for Proposition 226, an initiative that would have required written permission from each worker before union dues could be used for political purposes. Labor spent nearly $24 million to defeat the proposal.

“In a sense, it’s payback time for labor,” said Charles Price, a political science professor at Cal State Chico. “Pete Wilson went out of his way to throw a monkey wrench in the labor movement.”

Energized by their defeat of Proposition 226, labor groups representing teachers and office workers, police and firefighters, the building trades and government workers have pumped more than $5.5 million into Davis’ campaign since January.

“What we’re after is a cessation of the labor wars that Wilson has waged against us for eight years,” said Jim Lewis of the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California. “. . . With Gray Davis, we know we won’t have to play defense all the time both in the Legislature and in the court.”

Nearly half of labor’s contributions came from government employee groups who have battled Wilson over raises, raids on their pension funds and union contracts.

Agenda Blocked by Republican Governors

In the same period, records show, trial lawyers gave nearly $2 million to Davis’ campaign, with big law firms--such as Robinson, Calcagnie and Robinson of Orange County; Greene, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler and Panish of Santa Monica; and Girardi and Keese of Los Angeles--donating at least $100,000 each. San Diego trial attorney William Lerach contributed $120,000 as an individual.

Mark Robinson, incoming president of the Consumer Attorneys of California, insisted that there was no coordinated effort to support Davis. But he said that trial lawyers traditionally support Democrats and that Davis shares their views on environmental, consumer and education issues.

“I can just speak for myself,” he said. “I’ve been very frustrated, and I feel we need new leadership.”

The trial lawyers’ legislative agenda, like labor’s, has been blocked by Republican governors. Davis supports some of their positions but he opposes their proposed increase in the $250,000 limit on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases.

That demonstrates, South said, that Davis’ critics are wrong when they say trial lawyers and labor will have the inside track in his administration. He insisted that Davis only offers a sympathetic ear, not an automatic rubber stamp for what the two groups want.

“They know they aren’t going to get everything they want out of Gray, but they feel a lot more comfortable with him than they do with Dan Lungren,” South said.

The lieutenant governor already has expressed support for restoring the eight-hour workday, promised not to tinker with the prevailing wage, vowed to reach a contract agreement with state workers and made it clear he would not sponsor anti-union ballot initiatives.

Before the primary, Davis received $319,000 in political contributions from California Indian tribes that run casinos, then abruptly in July stopped accepting such donations. His moratorium followed the indictment of two officials of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. The tribe contributed more than $115,000 to Davis’ campaign, but the charges against the officials--laundering illegal contributions--involved six other Democratic candidates.

Davis has openly courted Native American tribes, writing officials in April to assure them that he did not support the expansion of card rooms--an Indian gaming competitor.

South said Davis distanced himself from Indian interests not only because of the indictments but also because of a host of unresolved gambling issues.

Before the moratorium, the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians donated $101,100 to Davis. Gene Gambale, general council for the group, said Davis’ moratorium has not reduced tribal support because he is still viewed as more willing than Wilson to “have direct discussions” with the tribes about gambling issues.

South said that, although Davis opposes the expansion of gambling in California, “he is not for rolling the clock back and going onto the reservations and raiding them and shutting down their gambling operations.”

One of Davis’ other major blocs of contributors is the entertainment industry, including large contributions from Hollywood figures such as producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban, producer of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

South said most of their support is philosophical. “Once you get past Charlton Heston and Tom Selleck,” he said, “the number of Republicans in Hollywood is sparse.”

Times director of computer analysis Richard O’Reilly contributed to this article.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Donations to Davis Campaign

Following are major donors to Democratic Lt. Gov. Gray Davis’ campaign for governor through Sept. 30:

Donor: Democratic Governor’s Association

Amount: $570,000

Business: Politics

*

Donor: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Amount: $414,814

Business: Labor

*

Donor: California State Council of Service Employees

Amount: $405,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Ca. State Employees Assn. Action Committee

Amount: $355,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: California Teachers Association for Better Citizens

Amount: $315,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: AGI Management Corp.

Amount: $250,000

Business: Real Estate

*

Donor: Jerry Perenchio

Amount: $235,000

Business: Media

*

Donor: Service Employees Intl. Union New York State Council

Amount: $200,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Girardi & Keese

Amount: $200,000

Business: Law firm

*

Donor: Service Employees Intl. Union-PEA Account

Amount: $200,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: California Professional Firefighters PAC

Amount: $189,072

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Professional Engineers in Ca. Govt. PAC

Amount: $158,758

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Communications Workers of America Dist. 9 PAC

Amount: $150,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Ameriquest Capital Corp.

Amount: $131,472

Business: Finance

*

Donor: Cause Independent Expenditure

Amount: $131,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Northern California Carpenters Regional Council

Amount: $125,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Jeffrey Katzenberg

Amount: $122,546

Business: Entertainment

*

Donor: William Lerach

Amount: $120,000

Business: Attorney

*

Donor: Intl. Brotherhood of Electrical Workers COPE

Amount: $116,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Intl. Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245

Amount: $112,000

Business: Labor

*

Donor: Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Amount: $107,000

Business: Agriculture

Source: Campaign reports filed with Secretary of State.

Compiled by Times director of computer analysis Richard O’Reilly, data analyst Sandra Poindexter and staff writer Virginia Ellis.