Bennett, Incumbents Hold Lead in Fund-Raising

As candidates for the Board of Supervisors begin a two-month push toward the March 7 primary, two incumbents and a principal sponsor of last year’s SOAR initiatives emerged Monday as fund-raising leaders.

New contribution statements show that 3rd District Supervisor Kathy Long of Camarillo topped all candidates in three supervisorial races by raising nearly $70,000 in 1999, and 5th District incumbent John K. Flynn raised $26,596 to deflect late-entry challenger Francisco Dominguez of Oxnard.

Educator Steve Bennett, co-author of the successful SOAR initiatives to save local farmland, reported donations of $62,182, more than double that reported by two other candidates vying for retiring Supervisor Susan Lacey’s seat. Lacey represents Ventura and portions of Ojai.

In a highly competitive Republican primary race, Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) extended his fund-raising lead over county Supervisor Judy Mikels in a contest to decide who replaces state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), who is leaving office because of term limits.

As of Dec. 31, McClintock had $257,000 in cash on hand, compared with Mikels’ $64,000.

In other local legislative races, the top fund-raisers were 37th District Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), who reported $255,000 in contributions in 1999--but all that money was used to pay off debts from his 1998 campaign. His Democratic opponents--Jon Sharkey and Roz McGrath--reported contributions of $32,200 and $2,240, respectively.

Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) reported donations of $153,000 for 1999 in the 35th District, which includes Ventura, Ojai and Santa Paula. Her Republican opponent this November, Santa Paula Councilwoman Robin Sullivan, said she raised $2,280 for an uncontested primary.

Long Gets Boost From Hagman Fund-Raiser

In the supervisors’ races, incumbents have a solid lead.

A Halloween reception hosted by actor Larry Hagman at his Ojai estate contributed to the $33,029 in cash and nonmonetary contributions Long raised during the last three months of 1999. Long already had $36,750 in the bank thanks to a fund-raiser in June at the Las Posas Country Club.

Long’s biggest contribution in the reporting period came from a group representing county firefighters, which contributed $2,650.

Long, who is seeking a second four-year term, said ranchers in Santa Paula, Fillmore and Ojai, who contributed in large numbers, appreciate that she voiced concerns about property rights while she was a member of an agricultural committee that looked into alternatives to the SOAR measures. But the firefighters’ donation is especially welcome because the group threw its support behind Long’s opponent, Camarillo Councilman Mike Morgan, during the 1996 District 3 supervisor’s race.

Her other big contributors include Santa Paula ranchers Donna and Robert Pinkerton, who each gave $1,000; $1,000 from Westlake Village attorney Edward Masry; $1,000 from the Emerald Group, a security firm in Westlake Village; and $1,950 from the county’s largest labor union, Service Employees International Union.

Contributions of $250 each came from Randy Feltman, a former director of the county’s Behavioral Health Department, and Dr. John Wong, former medical director of that department.

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Long said she is not concerned that some may perceive the contributions as inappropriate because of Feltman’s support for an ill-fated decision to merge the county’s mental health and social service departments. That vote, supported by Long, unleashed a series of investigations and lawsuits that have cost the county at least $22 million in payouts.

“Randy and Dr. Wong have been supporters of mine long before the merger action took place,” Long said.

Morgan, a retired federal probation officer, reported totals of $5,552 in cash and services, including a $2,000 loan to himself. His biggest donation, $2,000, came from Oxnard resident Leo O’Hearn. Morgan, who entered the race a month ago, said his handful of contributors will grow now that the holidays are over.

His campaign committee is meeting Thursday to plan fund-raising events, Morgan said, and he intends to raise thousands of dollars during the two-month dash to the primary.

“If I can raise $25,000, that should give a respectable fight,” Morgan said.

A third candidate, Camarillo retiree Jim Shinn, reported $2,200, most of it from a single $2,000 contribution from O’Hearn. Shinn said he does not plan any fund-raisers.

Flynn Expects to Spend $45,000

In the District 5 race, pitting Flynn against two challengers, the six-term incumbent was far ahead in contributions. Flynn reported $26,596 in cash and nonmonetary contributions last year, $15,932 of that raised between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.

Flynn’s support came from longtime Oxnard constituents, including $500 donations each from Anacapa Ventures in Oxnard and Charles McLaughlin, a pilot for Aspen Helicopters. Flynn, who also supported the mental health merger, received $250 from Wong and $100 from Feltman.

Flynn said he typically raises $25,000 for his reelection campaigns, but expects he will spend about $45,000 this time.

His primary opponent, Latino activist Dominguez, raised $1,792 during the period. Like Morgan, Dominguez said he is struggling with fund-raising because he entered the race just one month ago. But he hopes to raise $35,000 before the March primary to mount of serious challenge to Flynn in the heavily Latino district, Dominguez said.

“People are committing, and they are glad that I entered into the race,” said Dominguez, an Oxnard school board trustee who also heads a Latino advocacy group. “They are feeling optimistic.”

A third candidate, homemaker Arlene Fraser, filed documents stating she would raise less than $1,000.

Bennett Taps SOAR Supporters for Funds

In the District 1 contest, Bennett far outpaced his two opponents in the race to replace Lacey. Bennett, who announced his candidacy last summer, added $21,570 in cash and services to the $40,612 he had raised previously.

Bennett’s contributors include retirees, teachers, environmentalists and small-business owners from throughout the county. The slow-growth candidate said he solicited support from many of the same people who supported the SOAR growth-control measures.

He also is not accepting contributions larger than $500 because “it’s the appropriate thing to do,” said Bennett, an assistant principal at Nordhoff High School in Ojai and a former Ventura councilman.

“I wrote a campaign contribution limit law for [the city of] Ventura, and I’m trying to decrease the influence of money from any one source in this campaign, too,” he said.

Jim Monahan, a longtime Ventura council member and business owner, reported $24,519 in cash and nonmonetary gifts. His base of support is from from farmers, business owners and attorneys. Monahan listed a $10,000 loan from Ventura resident Robert Starr and a $1,600 loan to himself.

Walter E. Hartman of Taft Electric in Ventura and Wittenberg-Livingston Inc. of Newport Beach each gave Monahan $1,000. Dennis Nickerdon of Ventura donated a phone system valued at $5,364.

Rosa Lee Measures, the third candidate, raised $22,720, including a $10,000 loan from her family’s trust. Measures, a Ventura businesswoman and former city councilwoman, also drew strong support from farmers, business owners and professionals. A number of receptions in coming weeks will help her reach her goal of raising $50,000, Measures said.

“I’m scheduled about as tight as the next 60 days will allow,” she said.

Measures’ biggest contributors include Ojai ranchers Esther Wachtell and Carl Huntsinger and Ventura property manager John Hammer, who each gave $1,000. Measures also received a $100 donation from Strickland and $100 from Ventura Councilman Ray DiGuilio.

McClintock, Mikels in Tight Race for Senate

Among the local primary campaigns for the Legislature, the McClintock-Mikels matchup is the most expensive and competitive, pitting a conservative state lawmaker against a moderate supervisor with extensive local experience.

The prominent Republicans seek to represent the 19th District, where Republicans have won for three decades. Two-thirds of district voters live in Ventura County, and one-third in the western San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

McClintock reported contributions of $60,700 from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, boosting his total for 1999 to nearly $328,000. That compares with Mikels’ $167,000 for the year and $33,400 since October.

McClintock, who has built his long legislative career as an anti-tax crusader, said his candidacy is backed by most Republicans in the Legislature, including all top party leaders in the Senate and the Assembly minority leader.

Mikels said she has received the endorsements of Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury and Sheriff Bob Brooks, all five members of the Simi Valley City Council, as well as the endorsement of Los Angeles Councilman Hal Bernson. Wright, a longtime political enemy of McClintock, is also backing Mikels, but has not formally endorsed her.

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“It appears we’re enjoying substantial advantages, and we’re confident we’ll be able to fund the campaign with what we have in hand and what we’ll be able to raise in the next two months,” McClintock said.

He said he has received donations from about 1,500 contributors. The largest was a June loan for $100,000 from Edward Atsinger III, a Camarillo religious radio broadcast mogul. McClintock repaid the loan in November to avoid paying interest, then Atsinger loaned him another $100,000 in late December.

McClintock estimated his campaign will cost up to $500,000.

Mikels offered a similar estimate last summer, but has now scaled back her expected expenditures to between $350,000 and $400,000.

“Hopefully, that will do it,” she said.

She had hoped to host four fund-raising parties during the last quarter of 1999, Mikels said, but instead held just two. And the response to those was lower than expected, she said.

“I was hoping to be at $250,000 by now,” she said. “We just ran into problems. We didn’t have great response, but we had good response. People had family in town for the holidays, and other Christmas parties.”

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Mikels’ largest contribution last year--a $50,000 loan--came from Simi Valley insurance broker Reginall Richardson, the husband of the candidate’s campaign treasurer, Jacqueline Richardson.

Her biggest contributions during the three-month period were: $3,000 from Intel executive Gary Garnett and $2,000 from Isaac Moradi, bringing the Beverly Hills investor’s total to $4,500 for the year.

During the quarter, Mikels received $1,000 from the Ventura County government’s largest employee union and $500 from the county’s deputy sheriff’s association.

She also received $1,000 each from Southern California Edison, Kern County Supervisor Steve Perez, Anacapa Ventures of Oxnard, Ventura Business Park II of Calabasas Hills and Woodland Hills nursery owner John Boething.

Strickland Uses Funds to Repay Debt From ’98

A contested Democratic primary for the 37th Assembly District, which covers most of the county, has yet to take shape.

Sharkey, a retired events manager, declared his candidacy months ago after health problems forced McGrath to bow out of a second run against Strickland, to whom she narrowly lost in 1998. Assembly Democrats convinced McGrath, a kindergarten teacher, to run again last month, but she has yet to begin fund-raising.

Undeterred, Sharkey has plunged forward, gaining the endorsements of leading environmentalists and farmland preservationists.

Sharkey had a cash balance of $15,500 compared with McGrath’s $989.

“It’s not enough to wage the kind of campaign I would like to wage,” he said. “But I’m relying heavily on walking and talking to people.”

Strickland, the Republican incumbent, spent the year repaying debts from his 1998 campaign. Despite raising $255,000, he had but $2,568 in cash on hand to begin this year.

“It probably will be a close election again [against McGrath],” he said. “But there’s a little different dynamic this time. I’m an incumbent, and I’m running on my record.”

McGrath could not be reached for comment.