Tribe With a Major Casino Spent $18,000 to Aid McClintock Bid

An Indian tribe with a major casino spent $18,000 to help Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock’s bid to become governor, a campaign finance report filed Wednesday shows.

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which helped finance independent campaigns aimed at defeating Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa in his council race and in his run for mayor, spent $18,000 on focus groups related to McClintock’s candidacy.

Another tribe recently donated $21,200 directly to McClintock’s campaign for governor.

In a recent gathering of tribes with gambling operations, McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) described them as “islands of freedom” and said state law should end at their reservation boundaries.

Some political experts believe that McClintock cannot win the race to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he is recalled but that tribes might spend money on his behalf in an effort to undermine Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger and help Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat who, like McClintock, long has backed tribes’ right to govern their own affairs.

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Schwarzenegger, Shriver to Appear on ‘Oprah’

Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, will appear on Oprah Winfrey’s season premiere Monday.

Winfrey, who met Shriver when both worked on television in Baltimore earlier in their careers, has been a friend of the couple for more than two decades.

The appearance comes as Schwarzenegger has come under fire for past remarks and accusations of boorish behavior toward women.

The national talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” reaches about 1 million viewers in California, a spokeswoman for the program said. About 86% of them are women.

Asked whether the couple would discuss their personal relationship, a Schwarzenegger campaign official said: “I don’t think it’s going to sound like ‘MacNeil-Lehrer,’ ” referring to a classic news program on public television.

The campaign spokesman said that Schwarzenegger also intends to appear soon on Howard Stern’s radio program, but that no date has been set.

On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission granted Stern a news exemption from equal time provisions that might have required appearances by other candidates.

Winfrey already has such a waiver.

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Camejo Says Davis Got ‘California’ Wrong Too

Green Party candidate Peter Camejo was perplexed by all the fuss over Gov. Gary Davis’ recent remark that Schwarzenegger mispronounces “California.”

“Gov. Davis’ comment is peculiar,” Camejo said at a debate in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

“I have never heard him pronounce correctly ‘Sacramento,’ ‘San Diego,’ ‘California,’ ” he added, enunciating the names with a Spanish accent. “Most Latinos accept that.”

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Candidates Are in Friendly Competition

What’s a gubernatorial campaign between friends?

Calabasas Democrat Scott Mednick has been getting plenty of ink and air time for his spoof campaign aimed at promoting a beer he plans to sell to college kids next spring.

Turns out Mednick is a longtime friend and associate of candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, serving as a director of Schwarzenegger’s signature charity, After-School All-Stars.

A marketing executive who designed corporate logos for such companies as Columbia Pictures and Reebok, Mednick said he met Schwarzenegger 15 years ago through an environmental charity.

Mednick said he had planned to run even before Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, adding that the actor laughed when Mednick broke the news that they were both auditioning for the same role in Sacramento.

Mednick said he has served as informal advisor to Schwarzenegger’s campaign.

He said he supports Schwarzenegger but won’t vote for him.

“I’m going to have to vote for me,” Mednick said. “Otherwise, I won’t get a vote.”

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Clinton to Join Davis at South L.A. Church

Former President Bill Clinton will begin his long-awaited trip to help Gov. Gray Davis fight off the recall election by joining Davis at church services Sunday in South Los Angeles, aides to the governor said Wednesday.

The event Sunday will be held at the First AME Church.

Peter Ragone, director of communications for the Davis campaign, said Clinton’s appearance emphasizes the national significance of the recall election.

“Democratic leaders all over this country oppose this recall because they know it is not a solution to California’s problems,” he said.

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Schwarzenegger Fails to Pay License Fee

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has campaigned on the theme that Californians pay too many taxes and fees, has never paid an annual business license fee for a Venice rental property he has owned since 1995, a campaign spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for the actor-candidate, said the city never told Schwarzenegger that he needed a business license for the property at 812 Main St., which houses the Broadway Gymnastics School. His staff learned of it only after they received inquiries from the press and called the city, Stutzman said.

“A $110 license is in the process of being obtained,” Stutzman said.

The failure to pay the license fee was first reported in the Orange County Register on Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger could be liable for penalties and interest on the unpaid license fee for previous years, officials said.

“It is a concern,” said city Finance Director Antoinette Christovale. “We are not able to enforce every single address that doesn’t have a license.”

Schwarzenegger reported annual rental income of more than $100,000 from the property.