$100 Million Spent on Legislative Races in ’98

The huge contributions to the race for governor and to initiative campaigns last year attracted by far the most attention. But candidates for the state Legislature raised, and spent, more than $100 million.

The average price of a successful Assembly race hovered at $500,000--for jobs that pay $99,000 a year.

Big donors especially like to give to legislative chiefs, for a variety of reasons. State Senate Leader John Burton (D-San Francisco) and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) take the lead in mediating disputes among powerful and competing special interests.

Burton, a veteran of 35 years in the Legislature and Congress, got and spent almost $10 million last year. The leader of the Senate’s Republicans, Ross Johnson of Irvine, raised and spent $3.9 million in the GOP’s failed effort to take control of the upper house.

Like Burton, Villaraigosa, who spent $8.2 million to help elect fellow Democrats last year--more than any Assembly leader before him--has significant control over legislation. And donors view him as a man on the rise. At 46, he is 20 years younger than Burton, and he aspires to run for mayor of Los Angeles and perhaps higher office.

Ernest Gallo, who controls E&J; Gallo Winery and long has given large sums to governors and would-be governors, contributed $200,000 to Villaraigosa last year, including $100,000 at a fund-raiser at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco attended by President Clinton and a select group of large donors. Altogether, Gallo donated $1.47 million to state politics last year.

Villaraigosa said he and Gallo have never discussed specific issues. Rather, he said, they have talked about their shared hope that public education can be improved. And they have discussed their double opposition to last year’s Proposition 227, which revamped bilingual education in California.

“He loves my story,” Villaraigosa said of the reason he and Gallo have become friendly. “I’m the son of immigrants. He came from those roots. It says so much about this country.”

Like many farmers and vintners, Gallo is affected by a variety of issues in Sacramento, from farm labor regulations to possible restrictions on the sale of fortified wine, something lawmakers have rejected in the past.

Linking someone’s contributions to specific governmental action is virtually impossible. Accepting or giving political donations in exchange for a specific action is a crime. Donors and recipients insist there are no direct ties.

For the most part, say people involved in the process, donors simply get access to leaders, not assurance that they will get their way.

“Somebody gives you $100,000, and you’re not going to return their call? Of course you do,” Villaraigosa said. “But I also return the calls of the people who were volunteers in my first campaign.

“I always meet with people,” the speaker added. “I’m fair. I listen. But I’m here for six years and I’m gone. You’ve got to have some integrity. You’ve got to divorce the policy from the giving.”

Leaders are not the only legislators who pull in huge contributions. Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) had no serious opponent in November when he won his second term. But he is among the most ardent supporters of California Indians’ belief that they should be allowed to operate casinos as they see fit, and during the campaign he got $406,000 from gambling tribes--almost two-thirds of what he raised.

Cardenas, in turn, gave more than $80,00 to two Democrats in tight races, helping them win. That enhances his influence as he gathers votes from colleagues for his bills and rises in the legislative hierarchy.

“You certainly get noticed,” Cardenas said.