County Panels Take On Role as Funnels for Campaign Cash

In their never-ending pursuit of campaign money, California politicians have begun using the party system at the county level -- once a political backwater -- as a funnel to pour cash into tight state races.

Republicans first used their county central committees this way in 2002. They did so illegally and were fined by political watchdogs. Democrats say that they learned from the maneuver and have joined the Republicans in moving money in a similar -- but legal -- way.

On Saturday, the Democratic Central Committee of Merced County moved $375,000 to a candidate whose Bakersfield district does not include Merced County. On the same day, the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee gave $200,000 to a San Diego County candidate.

And Tuesday, the Republican Central Committee of Orange County donated $75,500 to a candidate in Central California.

Experts say the practice will grow more common as politicians maximize fundraising within the confines of Proposition 34, a 4-year-old ballot measure that caps donations to politicians.

The county central committees, home to dedicated volunteers who typically had little money to spread around, have attracted the attention of party strategists because under Proposition 34, the committees can donate unlimited amounts of money to candidates. Individuals and businesses, on the other hand, can give no more than $3,200 to any candidate for a single election.

Voters approved Proposition 34 in 2000. The man who drafted the measure says it is working as intended by getting county committees more involved.

“The only thing that’s surprised me is that it’s taken this long,” said Lance Olson, general counsel for the state Democratic Party who was hired by the Legislature to draft Proposition 34. “It was always the intent of Proposition 34 to enhance the role of the political parties.”

Ideally, he said, the county committees can serve as a buffer between donors and politicians.

According to Olson, the Legislature supported Proposition 34 with the reasoning that “political parties can play an insulating role against the corrupting influence of large campaign contributions.”

Robert Stern, head of the Center for Governmental Studies, a group that monitors campaign financing, said that whether the donations reach politicians directly or through a county committee, “the money has continued to flow.”

Proposition 34 was written by legislators to repeal Proposition 208, a 1996 reform measure backed by Stern that would have limited legislative campaign donations to $250 but was tied up in the courts.

“There are almost no limits,” Stern said of Proposition 34. “There are pseudo limits. What it means is that the candidates are raising huge amounts of money that the average person can’t give, and the money is coming from special interests who want something from the candidates who win.”

Under a bill signed into law last month, county committees will have to regularly disclose who gives them the money they pass on to candidates. The new law requires the county committees to report to the California secretary of state within 24 hours of giving or receiving donations of $1,000 or more in the last few weeks before an election.

By signing the bill, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger closed a loophole that helped the GOP hide nearly $1 million in donations from the 21st Century Insurance Group days before the November 2002 election. The Woodland Hills insurer donated the money one day after a deadline for public disclosure.

Republican strategists then channeled the money to key races through county committees.

Last June, three of those committees -- in Butte, Kern and San Joaquin counties -- each paid $10,000 fines to the Fair Political Practices Commission.

They each stipulated that they had exceeded state campaign finance limits that capped contributions to political parties at $25,000 for the purpose of supporting or defeating candidates.

“The Republicans are the ones who pioneered this,” said Proposition 34 drafter Olson, “though it’s pretty clear they did it illegally.”

As of late Tuesday, the central committees in Riverside, Merced and Orange counties had not disclosed the source of the contributions that they passed on to out-of-county legislative candidates. Such reports were due by midnight.

The Riverside County Central Democratic Committee gave $200,000 to Patty Davis, who is challenging Republican incumbent Shirley Horton for the Assembly seat covering inland San Diego County.

The Riverside committee on Tuesday also tended to a more local race and gave $100,000 to Mary Ann Andreas, the Democratic candidate challenging Republican incumbent Bonnie Garcia in the Assembly district that includes eastern Riverside County.

The Democratic Central Committee of Merced County gave $375,000 to Nicole Parra, the incumbent Democrat defending an Assembly district that includes parts of Kern, Kings and Fresno counties.

And the Republican Central Committee of Orange County gave $75,500 to Abel Maldonado, a Santa Maria farmer and assemblyman seeking to represent a Senate district that stretches along the coast from Monterey County to Santa Barbara County.

Shirley Walton, head of the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee, said her panel had always supported good Democratic candidates in targeted races -- but “this year we have money.”

“We’re supporting all the targeted races,” she said.

This new route for campaign cash has opened in a season in which 100 seats in the Legislature are in contention and more than $4 million has already been spent in a couple of those races -- as much money as some politicians have spent to win statewide offices such as treasurer or controller.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Republican Assembly candidate Steve Poizner has spent $4.5 million of his own money spreading a moderate message in a district that leans Democratic and includes Palo Alto. Democrats say his willingness to invest a fortune in his quest to become one of the Assembly’s 80 members has forced them to spend on their candidate, communications consultant Ira Ruskin.

And in the Senate district that includes Stockton, Democratic incumbent Mike Machado is fighting mightily against Stockton Mayor Gary Podesto. According to campaign finance reports covering July 1 through last week, Machado had spent $2.5 million and had $80,000 on hand while Podesto had spent $1.6 million and had $386,000 available.

“They’re going to spend more than most congressional races that are so expensive,” said Republican campaign manager Matt Rexroad.

“Machado and Podesto are on track to become the most expensive legislative race in the United States.”