Local Election Reforms Pay Off

Strict contribution limits for Ventura County supervisorial candidates have evened out fundraising for the March 2 primary campaign, finance reports released Thursday show.

But Republican candidates vying for an open Assembly seat, unrestricted by such rules, have already raised more than $1 million in one of the most expensive primary campaigns in California.

In three races for county supervisor, money is coming in slowly and steadily, rather than the flood of dollars seen in recent campaigns.

And, with one exception, campaign finance reforms approved by the Board of Supervisors last year have narrowed a traditional funding gap between incumbents and their challengers.

Only Supervisor Steve Bennett has pulled a huge financial lead over his sole competitor, teacher Jeffrey Ketelsen. Bennett has raised more than $130,000 since announcing his candidacy in June, records show.

Ketelsen, meanwhile, has indicated he would spend no more than $1,000 in his effort to unseat Bennett, a first-term incumbent.

But in the other supervisorial races, the new rules so far have worked as the county board intended. In passing the ordinance, supervisors said they hoped to lessen the influence of money in politics and to level the playing field for all candidates.

The law limits donations to $600 per person if a candidate chooses to abide by them and $300 per donor if they don’t. All eight of the supervisorial candidates have accepted the $600 cap for this election.

“With smaller contributions you have to spread the net further and reach out to the grass roots,” said Supervisor Kathy Long, who is going after a third term in her Camarillo-based 3rd District. “This helps the voters know what’s going on and who is giving to whom. So, yes, I do think it is working.”

Long has raised $85,700, some of which came before the new campaign finance limits went into effect. By comparison, her only competitor, Camarillo City Councilman Mike Morgan, has raised about $20,000.

While that gap is significant, Morgan entered the race just last month. Since then, he has matched Long’s fundraising, with both pulling in about $10,000 from Jan. 1 to 17, the most recent reporting period.

“It’s harder on the candidate because your limits are $600 and you have to find more people,” Morgan said. “But I think overall it’s fair, because we’re in the same basket. We’re on the same playing table.”

In his last face-off with Long four years ago, Morgan raised about $70,000 compared with the $150,000 brought in by the incumbent.

Fundraising by three of the four competitors for the Oxnard-based 5th District has also been competitive. Seven-term incumbent John Flynn has raised $72,000, compared with $70,400 for John Zaragoza, an Oxnard councilman, and $60,000 for Manuel Lopez, the city’s mayor.

A fourth candidate, Port Hueneme business executive Arlene Fraser, has said she would raise less than $1,000.

Lopez, who has run in 13 municipal elections in Oxnard, said the county rules have been tough to follow.

“You have to start really early and raise a lot of money to beat an incumbent,” he said. “Coping with the ordinance is something that I did not anticipate.”

Meanwhile, in the costly race to replace Republican Tony Strickland in the 37th Assembly District, two candidates -- including the incumbent’s wife -- have a huge financial advantage while a third lags but has the backing of several Sacramento powerbrokers.

Millionaire investor Mike Robinson of Thousand Oaks maintained his fundraising lead with a total of $533,000, despite receiving only $1,200 so far this year. About $500,000 is his own money.

Robinson, 28, former aide to state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), said he had already spent most of the money on fliers and roadside signs that he expected to begin posting soon. He has about $238,000 still available.

“We know we’re running against someone with name ID, so we’ve done some early mailers,” he said. “And we’ve been walking precincts since last February, concentrating on voter contact.”

History teacher Audra Strickland, 29, received nearly $8,000 in new contributions this period, pushing her total to about $434,000, including $110,000 donated in 2002, before this campaign cycle began. More than $224,000 remains in her campaign account.

Strickland said she would spend whatever it took to win. “We’ll be able to get our message out,” she said.

Another Republican, Jeff Gorell, a deputy district attorney, raised about $9,100 during the period, hiking his campaign total to about $124,000.

He has just $35,500 in cash on hand.

Gorell, a 33-year-old county prosecutor, said he was confident that endorsements from Republicans close to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would result in a fully endowed campaign.

For instance, former Gov. Pete Wilson, a top Schwarzenegger advisor, is coming to Ventura County next week for a campaign dinner hosted by Dole Foods billionaire David Murdoch at his Ventura Farms horse ranch near Lake Sherwood.

Sponsorships for the dinner are $3,200, Gorell said, plus $500 a plate. “We’re budgeted to raise $100,000 to $150,000 there,” he said. “Mr. Murdock is working very hard for us. He’s working his statewide contacts to help us get our message out.”