TOM McCLINTOCK

State Sen. Tom McClintock’s underfunded gubernatorial campaign is seeking contributions from California’s gambling-rich Indian tribes, a move opponents said was contrary to the candidate’s pledge to curb the influence of special interests in state government.

McClintock said he was going after every dollar he could get from the tribes. But his support for them, he said, dates back to the 1980s.

“I stood with them long before they were powerful or a special interest,” he said Tuesday after unveiling a television ad that promises to “challenge the spending lobby that controls” Sacramento politics. “I was an advocate of tribal sovereignty long before gaming became a revenue.”

The state’s limit of 2,000 slot machines per Indian casino is inappropriate, he said, as is Gov. Gray Davis’ request that the tribes contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the state to help offset its budget shortfall. “I do not believe that the tribes should have to pay tribute to the state to maintain that sovereignty,” said the conservative Republican.

McClintock campaign director John Feliz said he expected the tribes to back both McClintock and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. Both have strongly supported Indian sovereignty and backed tribal plans to further expand casinos.

Since 1998, tribes have spent more money on state political campaigns -- in excess of $120 million -- than any other interest group. And because donors are subject to limits on direct contributions, unlimited independent expenditures such as the tribes’ may become even more important in the short recall campaign ending Oct. 7.

In a radio appearance Tuesday, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the leading GOP candidate to replace Davis, specifically ruled out taking money from unions or tribes.

Rob Stutzman, a strategist and spokesman for Schwarzenegger, said McClintock “is obviously going to play the special-interest career politician game that plagues Sacramento.”

“Mr. McClintock,” Stutzman added, “obviously has a different fund-raising policy than Mr. Schwarzenegger, who vows that he won’t solicit money from single-issue special-interest groups.”

So far Schwarzenegger has collected at least $1.4 million from outside donors, including major real estate developers, records show.

Jacob Coin, executive director of the California Nations Indian Gaming Assn., said his group has invited McClintock, Bustamante, Schwarzenegger and Davis to speak before representatives of 57 gaming tribes Thursday in Sacramento.

“We’re providing this forum as a way for the tribes to become better acquainted with the candidates,” Coin said. “I don’t know what the tribes’ timelines are, but I’m sure some tribes have already made their decisions.”

With just six weeks until the recall election, Coin said, the individual tribes probably will move quickly to pledge support.

At his Tuesday news conference, McClintock unveiled a 60-second TV spot that stressed his two decades of government experience and his commitment to reduce the power of interest groups in government.

“We must have a governor who knows every inch of this government -- and who is willing to challenge the spending lobby that controls it,” an announcer intones between cutaways to McClintock speaking to an enthusiastic audience at a recent Republican picnic.

McClintock said he has purchased $250,000 worth of radio and TV time over the next two weeks to kick off his campaign in small towns and cities, primarily in the Central Valley -- the electronic media markets his campaign can afford. It had received nearly $400,000 in contributions of $1,000 or more by late Monday.

McClintock said the campaign has been receiving $9,000 to $15,000 a day for two weeks in small donations over the Internet, a pace rivaling that of U.S. presidential candidate Howard Dean.

Beginning today, the television spots are scheduled to run in Bakersfield and Fresno and on stations covering the Sacramento-Stockton area, he said. Radio ads have been booked on stations throughout the state, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Redding, Feliz said.

McClintock told reporters that he was in the race to stay and would not withdraw to give Schwarzenegger a better chance against Bustamante.

“Let the chips fall where they may,” McClintock said.

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Times staff writer Joe Mathews contributed to this report.