Bamieh Raises $1 Million in Race for County D.A.

Fueled by late contributions, candidate Ron Bamieh has now raised an unprecedented $1,067,000 in his bid for Ventura County district attorney--far outpacing his opponent, Greg Totten, and making it one of the costliest races in the state.

Nearly all of the money pouring into Bamieh’s coffers is from his multimillionaire father, who in the last week made four late donations totaling $155,000.

That brings San Mateo businessman Sam Bamieh’s total contributions in the district attorney’s race to $983,000, more than any individual has ever given in a Ventura County race, election officials said Tuesday.

With Totten raising nearly $400,000, mostly in small donations from attorneys and ranchers, the March 5 primary election race is proving to be one of the most expensive waged in California for a district attorney seat.

“For the size of the county, this would certainly appear to be one for the record books,” said Larry Brown, executive director of the California District Attorneys Assn.

“I’m hard pressed to recall a medium-sized county district attorney race hitting anywhere close to seven figures,” Brown said. “And probably even compared to larger counties it is among one of the more costly races for district attorney in California.”

Bamieh has raised about as much money as former Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti did during his reelection campaign two years ago.

Bamieh, who has worked in the district attorney’s office for nine years, said he needs the money to compete with Totten’s endorsements. Totten, the second-in-command in the prosecutors office, is supported by retiring Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury and most of the county’s law enforcement establishment.

“You can’t expect to take on a group of people who have run this county for years without resources,” Bamieh said. “To break that cycle, it is going to take an aggressive effort.”

Meanwhile, large contributions continue to pour into other local races.

Campaign finance reports show businessman Randy Hoffman received $50,000 last week from Camarillo resident Edward Atsinger III, who runs a string of Christian radio stations. Hoffman and Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman Linda Parks are vying to replace retiring county Supervisor Frank Schillo.

State Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark) received a $25,000 donation for his reelection campaign from Miller Brothers Investments, a Calabasas developer involved in a controversial land-swap deal with the city of Thousand Oaks.

But the big money has been flowing into the district attorney’s race, where, as with all county races, there are no contribution limits. The race is expected to yield a blitz of mailers and radio and television ads in the closing days before the election.

Last week, Totten received a $50,000 loan from an Oxnard investor and law school friend, Allen Camp. It is the largest loan to his campaign fund, which has increased gradually with small donations from about 750 contributors.

Meanwhile, campaign finance reports show Sam Bamieh donated $222,000 in the last nine days to his son’s campaign for district attorney.

The elder Bamieh--a major GOP contributor and the largest individual donor in the 1994 gubernatorial race--dropped $10,000 into his son’s war chest Tuesday. He also donated $75,000 on Monday, $30,000 on Friday and $40,000 last Wednesday.

Those late donations prompted Totten to renew allegations that Ron Bamieh is trying to buy the election. He predicted that it will backfire on election day.

“What we are hearing out in the community is that people don’t like this,” Totten said. “I think when this race is over, there will be a call for campaign finance reform here in Ventura County. The public does not like people buying political offices.”

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Times staff writer Margaret Talev contributed to this report.