No Big Democratic Aid in Store for McGrath

Assembly Democratic leaders have decided not to back Roz McGrath’s uphill 37th District campaign with the large contributions she had hoped would push her past Republican Tony Strickland, a Democratic spokesman said Thursday.

“The polling we’ve done shows she’s running a great race and she’s neck and neck with Strickland,” said Darry Sragow, campaign manager for the Assembly Democratic Caucus. “But it’s a seat that’s traditionally Republican, and there are other races that present more certain opportunities for us.”

New campaign finance reports filed Thursday show Strickland maintaining a huge fund-raising edge, despite improvement by McGrath in recent days. Strickland received about $41,000 to push his total for the year to $452,000, according to the reports, which cover the period up to Oct. 17.

McGrath, meanwhile, raised $32,000 for the period and $20,000 more this week, boosting her total to $105,000. Previously, she had said it would take contributions of $300,000 to $400,000 to win in a district where no Democrat has prevailed in at least 30 years.

In another local Assembly race, however, Democrats are spending big to help Hannah-Beth Jackson defeat Chris Mitchum and capture a seat that both parties consider pivotal to control of the Assembly.

Mitchum had raised $137,000 this period for a total of $622,000 while Jackson had collected $292,000 for a total of $604,000--much of it from state Democratic Party leaders.

In countywide races, rivals in the high-profile Save Open Space Agricultural Resources growth-control campaign remained almost even in the fund-raising battle, with each collecting just over $300,000.

The same was true for the race for Superior Court judge, where candidates Gary Windom and Kevin McGee each raised more than $100,000.

37th Assembly District

In the 37th District--which includes Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Moorpark--McGrath, a Somis kindergarten teacher, said her inability to secure big-money support from Assembly Democratic leaders is not a crippling blow. She said she is receiving some Democratic Party money and can still run a solid campaign.

“I talk to them and they’re amazed because they never thought we’d have a chance to take this seat,” McGrath said. “But they have other races they’re concerned about too. They’ve made that very clear. I guess you could call me the dark horse of the party.”

McGrath did receive some party support this week when the state Democratic Central Committee made two $10,000 contributions. And she said she expects Democratic leaders to print and mail a flier for her this weekend--a contribution worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa also chipped in a $1,000 postage fee this week, she said.

During the past filing period, McGrath’s biggest givers were: $6,700 from various Democratic groups and lawmakers, $6,000 from two teachers’ unions, $4,500 from laborer and carpenter unions, and $4,000 from the county employees’ union. Thousand Oaks businessman Larry Janss gave $1,175 and farmer John S. Broome paid $250 to tow a McGrath banner behind a plane.

McGrath said she expects much more help from various Democratic Party interests over the next 10 days. She had $30,000 in the bank for a final push on Oct. 17, before the party contributed $20,000.

Strickland, 28, a former aide to Assemblyman Tom McClintock, has already begun his push to the Nov. 3 election, unleashing a flurry of mailers. Three have already gone out, another will be mailed today and two will be sent next week, campaign consultant Joe Giardiello said.

“We’ve always run this mainly to get Tony’s message out, so whatever she is going to do doesn’t really affect us,” he said.

Strickland has $22,000 left in the bank in his bid to replace Assemblyman Nao Takasugi, retiring because of term limits. “But we’ve paid for everything we think we’ll need,” Giardiello said.

As opposed to previous large contributions from conservative political groups and lawmakers, most of Strickland’s $41,000 in donations this period came from small givers.

“It’s a lot of smaller stuff this time,” Giardiello said. “But if it looks like the Democrats are coming in [with large contributions], we’ll go back to our supporters and ask again.”

Strickland’s major contributions this time were: $2,000 from former U.S. Senate candidate Darrell Issa, $2,000 from the Orange County conservative California Lincoln Club, $2,000 from the California Apartment Assn., and $1,500 from the Edison International power company.

35th Assembly District

In the race for the 35th District seat vacated by Brooks Firestone, both parties pumped money into the campaigns of their respective first-time candidates. The district includes Ventura, Ojai and Santa Paula.

Much of the money spent by Republican Mitchum and Democrat Jackson during this period went toward radio and television advertising.

Mitchum, son of the late actor Robert Mitchum, received about $137,000 in cash and in-kind contributions, and spent about $218,000. All told, the actor has raised about $622,000 and spent $459,000.

The state GOP leadership gave Mitchum $20,000, bringing its total donations to $142,000. Other large gifts came from Republican legislators: Assemblymen Bill Campbell (R-Orange), Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) and George Runner (R-Lancaster) gave a total of $25,000, bringing their total gifts to Mitchum to $70,000.

Mitchum’s larger donors include the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. ($25,000) and the Lincoln Club in Santa Barbara ($5,000). He also returned $750 worth of contributions, both from oil-related firms. Offshore drilling has been an often-debated issue in the race, with Jackson charging Mitchum wants to expand drilling.

Mitchum said Jackson’s recent advertising, which he contends is negative and false, has only helped his campaign’s coffers.

“People are walking in checks,” he said.

Jackson took in more than $292,000--$212,000 of it coming as in-kind contributions. The state Democratic leadership is largely responsible for those gifts, providing television time and mailers for Jackson.

In all, Jackson raised about $604,000 and spent about $285,000, though campaign manager Janice Rocco said that number is somewhat misleading without accounting for the large amount of in-kind donations from the Democratic leadership.

Jackson’s larger cash donations came from several state employees’ and teachers’ unions. State Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo) gave Jackson $2,000.

“Hannah-Beth Jackson has received contributions from over 1,100 individual contributors,” Rocco said. “She’s raised a great deal of money in the district and feels it’s a show of support within the community.”

SOAR

Continuing a strong fund-raising push, SOAR raised $75,910 during the reporting period, boosting its total to $303,645. The group continues to do better financially than initially expected, SOAR leader Richard Francis said.

“We’ve been extremely successful,” he said. “That is an indication, I believe, of the broad base of support we have.”

Francis, however, said SOAR still expects to be heavily outspent by anti-SOAR forces, whom he believes will contribute large sums in the final days of the campaign.

SOAR received 1,682 contributions, 1,601 of which were under $100. The larger donations included $10,000 from the Johanson Technology of Camarillo, bringing the company’s total to $25,229--$10,000 from lawyer Louis Masry, son of Thousand Oaks attorney Edward Masry, and $5,750 from the Valley Veterinary Clinic in Simi Valley. Sylmar-based Johanson Dielectrics, also owned by Camarillo’s Eric Johanson, gave $10,000.

The Coalition for Community Planning has also amassed a sizable war chest, collecting $87,567 and raising its total to $307,129. Most of the money--$203,601--was earmarked to fight the countywide SOAR initiative, Measure B, while the rest was split to combat city SOAR measures in Oxnard, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Santa Paula.

The group is satisfied with its fund-raising so far, and never envisioned raising the astronomical sums SOAR backers have claimed it would, said Susan Eastman, the coalition’s executive director.

“It was never the reality, and it is not the reality now,” Eastman said. “They have always taken this position of, big guy versus little guy. They have demonized the farmers, and demonized the developers. It’s part of their strategy.”

The coalition continued to receive the brunt of its support from farmers, Realtors and developers. Larger donations included $15,000 from the Building Industry Assn.; $7,049 from Farmers Against Irresponsible Regulations, the group that waged a losing fight against the 1995 Ventura SOAR measure; $2,450 from the Arizona Bar Foundation Trust, $5,000 from WL Homes of Encino, and $10,000 from the Pardee Construction Co. of Camarillo. Lemon giant Limoneira Co. also chipped in another $10,000, boosting its total to $27,500.

Superior Court Judge

In the race to replace suspended Judge Robert Bradley, public defender Gary Windom gained a slight fund-raising lead over prosecutor Kevin McGee.

Windom raised $18,337 for a total of $106,683, while McGee collected $7,440, for a total of $101,594.

Most of McGee’s contributions came from local attorneys, prosecutors and sheriff’s employees, including a $2,000 contribution from the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California.

Most of Windom’s contributions also came from local attorneys. He also received $100 from county Democratic Party Chairman Hank Lacayo, raising Lacayo’s total to $650, and $300 from the family of former Oxnard Mayor Jane Tolmach.

County Assessor

In the race for Ventura County assessor created by the retirement of incumbent Glenn Gray, in-house candidate James Dodd had raised $17,235 this period, for a total of $62,359. The report of Dodd’s opponent, private appraiser Dan Goodwin, was not available, but his wife said he had raised an additional $3,420 to bring his total to more than $100,000.

Dodd’s contributions included $15,000 in loans to himself, bringing to $33,000 the total he has poured into his campaign.

He also received an additional $1,000 from the Service Employees International Union, which represents many county workers, raising its total to the Dodd campaign to $4,000, and a total of $208 for the year from former Assessor Jack Waterman, a vocal supporter.

Thousand Oaks

Thousands of dollars continue to flow into the City Council campaign as the race for three council seats intensifies.

While fund-raising has slowed as candidates neared their planned spending limits, expenditures have increased as office seekers sought to get their messages out to voters with campaign signs, slate mailers, candidate fliers, newspaper ads, radio spots and cable television commercials.

The fund-raising leader remains former city Police Chief Dennis Gillette, who has raised more than $27,000, outstripping the money he will need under a voluntary $25,000 spending cap he pledged to observe.

He has thus far spent more than $10,500.

In a close second is incumbent Andy Fox, who has raised nearly $26,500 and spent just over $16,000. Fox has not pledged to cap his spending at $25,000, but has said he has not budgeted the spending of more than that amount on the campaign.

Fox also returned two $250 contributions, one from G.I. Rubbish Co. and one from CH2M Hill California Inc., because he had voted on city contracts given to both.

Incumbent council member Judy Lazar has likewise neared the amount she would need under the same voluntary spending limit, raising nearly $8,000 during the past few weeks and nearly $22,000 in all. She has spent just over $11,500.

Three candidates allied under a ticket known as the “Clean Sweep” slate, however, have not fared as well in fund-raising. Dan Del Campo, Wayne Possehl and Laura Lee Custodio together raised less than $25,000, receiving $7,700, $9,073 and $8,172, respectively.

Other candidates who filed forms as of Thursday included:

Planning Commissioner Dave Anderson, who raised $1,209 during this filing period for a total of $4,314.

City board of appeals member Chris Buckett, who received no financial donations during the period, but received $1,368.88 in personal loans for a total of $2,618.

Seniors advocate Marshall Dixon, who has imposed a $100 donation limit for himself. He received an additional $25 for a total of $1,250.

Candidates David Seagal and Nigel Greaves have posted contributions of less than $1,000, and consequently are not required to file reports under state law.

Oxnard

In his battle against longtime incumbent Manuel Lopez, mayoral challenger Andres Herrera has raised a total of $16,231. He anticipates spending about $24,000 by election day--half as much as he did during his unsuccessful run for City Council two years ago.

Lopez’s finance statement was unavailable Thursday night. By the end of September, the end of the previous filing period, Lopez had already raised almost $15,000.

Herrera, who was voted out of the City Council two years ago, said his lower expenditures are part of a conscious attempt to run a more grass-roots campaign rather than the disadvantage of being a challenger rather than incumbent.

In the council race, incumbents Tom Holden and Dean Maulhardt appear to be spending the most money. Holden has so far raised $36,518, while Maulhardt has amassed nearly $27,000.

Among the challengers, only Steve Buratti filed a campaign finance statement Thursday and he has so far raised only a fraction of those amounts--about $4,000.

He downplayed his financial disadvantage.

“I would like to win with $10,000, just to prove it could be done,” he said. “It doesn’t take big money.”

Simi Valley

Mayoral candidate Bill Davis received a total of $24,479 in contributions while Davis’ challenger, Larry Fick, received $12,014, including a $9,250 personal loan.

Among the candidates vying for three available council seats, Glen Becerra received $28,806 and incumbent Paul Miller received $19,144. Reports for the other candidates were not available Thursday.

Moorpark

Mayoral candidate Patrick Hunter, hoping to fend off a challenge from Councilman Bernardo Perez, received $9,370, including $1,430 in loans. In the race for two council seats, incumbent John Wozniak received $3,581.

Reports for the other candidates were not available.

*

Times Community News reporters Massie Ritsch, Regina Hong, Nick Green and Andrew Steven Harris contributed to this report.