Davis, Riordan Fund-Raising Keeps Up Pace

Despite terrorist attacks and California’s energy and financial woes, Gov. Gray Davis continued raising money at a clip of nearly $1 million per month during the third quarter of 2001, and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan nearly matched his pace, campaign finance statements filed Wednesday show.

Democratic incumbent Davis’ $2.78 million was slightly more than the $2.6 million that Riordan, an unannounced candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, reported raising during the three-month period ended Sept. 30.

However, Davis also has a campaign bank account bulging with $30.7 million in anticipation of next year’s election, while Riordan had $2.3 million in cash.

Riordan, a multimillionaire who is expected to use some of his own money to finance his candidacy, has more cash on hand than his potential rivals for the GOP nomination, Secretary of State Bill Jones and businessman Bill Simon.

Garry South, Davis’ chief political advisor, said he was unfazed by Riordan’s initial showing, noting that the former mayor fell short of a goal stated by one of his campaign advisors that he would raise $2.5 million by Labor Day.

“Let’s look at the bottom line: $28 million more to go and he’ll be caught up with us,” South said.

Davis reported receiving five donations of $100,000 between July 1 and Sept. 20. Six-figure donors included AKT Development, two labor unions, a nursing home operator and the Houston-based investment and real estate firm of Stanford Financial Group. South said that Davis postponed for a week two fund-raisers after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and that the governor has not been raising money in New York since the attacks.

Riordan took in nine contributions of $100,000. Though several of the donors are Republican stalwarts, such as David Murdock and developer Alex Spanos, many of those who gave to Riordan have given large sums to Davis. A. Jerrold Perenchio, chairman of Univision, a Spanish-language television network, gave Riordan $100,000. He gave Davis $250,000 last year.

Simon, the wealthy New Jersey native making his first bid for elective office, reported raising $436,671 during the three-month period ending Sept. 30. Of that sum, $100,000 came from a brother who, like the candidate, works in the family-run investment house founded by Simon’s father, former U.S. Treasury Secretary William E. Simon. Simon has $2.1 million in the bank.

Jones raised a combined $494,000 through two committees during the three-month period, and reported loans totaling $575,000. At the end of September, Jones had $1.2 million in cash.

Sean Walsh, Jones’ deputy campaign manager, attributed candidates’ lagging fund-raising to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but also took the opportunity to take a slap at Davis.

“It appears fund-raising for candidates nationwide was severely diminished after the atrocity of Sept. 11,” Walsh said. “All but perhaps Gov. Davis, who seems to subscribe to the it-must-be-6-o’clock-somewhere-in-the-world theory of fund-raising.”

Simon, Jones and Riordan, if he decides to run, will face one another in the March primary. Davis has no announced opponents in the Democratic primary. Davis spent $35 million on his election in 1998. Since taking office, he has been raising money at a pace of roughly $1 million per month, although in the first nine months of 2001 he fell somewhat short, pulling in $8.5 million.

“We’ll be ready for which ever of these ducks comes out of the primary and starts quacking at us,” South said.

Davis, whose popularity fell during the energy crisis, has trailed Riordan in some recent polls. However, some Republicans say Riordan, a moderate who supports abortion rights and favors gun control, may have a hard time winning the primary, given that the California Republican Party has been dominated in recent years by conservatives.

Riordan initially encouraged Simon to run. But as the energy crisis worsened earlier this year, Riordan became interested in jumping into the race. He is expected to announce his decision next month.