Feinstein Outpaces Foe in Fund-Raising

Although fund-raising remains a hurdle for her and her GOP opponent, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein raised nearly $1 million during the most recent campaign finance reporting period--almost twice the amount collected by her challenger, Rep. Tom Campbell of San Jose.

Reports to the Federal Election Commission that were due Monday show that Feinstein raised $988,000, about half of it in small donations, between Feb. 17 and the end of March, and spent $360,000 during that period. Feinstein’s campaign has $2.2 million cash on hand.

By comparison, Campbell’s report showed that he raised $565,000 in the latest reporting period and spent almost $700,000, leaving him with $615,000.

For Feinstein, the fund-raising numbers compare favorably with those of her last reelection campaign, against Republican Michael Huffington, then a congressman from Santa Barbara. So far, Feinstein has collected about $6 million in all and is ahead of the pace set during her 1994 campaign, which went on to set spending records. By the time that bitter race concluded, Feinstein had spent almost $14 million--and that was eclipsed by Huffington’s $26 million, much of it his own money.

This race has not generated the headlines of the 1994 contest, dampening the enthusiasm for contributions and offering no indication that donors will eventually pony up the kind of money they did six years ago. Moreover, the campaigns of both Feinstein and Campbell have long acknowledged difficulty raising funds for this race, in part because of California’s earlier-than-usual primary last month.

“Because of the Senate schedule and the relatively early primary, many voters aren’t feeling the excitement of the general election campaign,” Kam Kuwata, Feinstein’s campaign manager, said Monday. “So it becomes a challenge to enlist people to participate in fund-raising activities right now.”

Similarly, Campbell campaign spokesman Suhail Khan said the congressman’s fund-raising has had its challenges. Before the primary, he said, many contributors were waiting to see how the election would turn out between Campbell and two other Republican officeholders vying to challenge Feinstein. And shortly after the primary, there was another brief lull as contributors regrouped before looking ahead to November.

“Now, it’s starting to pick up again,” said Khan, citing a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser last week that raised $10,000 from some of Campbell’s congressional colleagues.

Feinstein, meanwhile, has also been holding fund-raising dinners, including one Monday night in Pacific Palisades that was expected to generate about $50,000.

But much of Feinstein’s recent fund-raising has come from small donations. Her report shows that the number of unitemized contributions of $200 or less surpassed, in total, the amount collected from larger donors. Feinstein has had a program in place since her first Senate race in 1992 to target potential small contributors who might also serve as volunteers at election time.

Feinstein’s most recent report also lists a transfer of nearly $200,000 from California Victory 2000, a committee affiliated with her Senate campaign, and EMILY’s List, a political network for Democratic women who support abortion rights.