Jones Pulls Out Cash He Lent to Campaign

Three months after pledging to personally invest up to $2 million to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, Republican challenger Bill Jones instead has effectively withdrawn his own financial support from the campaign, according to federal financial reports filed Friday.

Rather than making an additional $1.65 million in promised loans, Jones repaid himself nearly $350,000 in the three-month reporting period that ended Sept. 30. The repayment of loans made earlier this year left his campaign with just under $840,000 in cash for the election’s final five-week run -- enough to cover only a few days of statewide television ads.

Jones raised about $700,000 more than Boxer during the Sept. 30 reporting period, pulling in $2.5 million to Boxer’s $1.8 million. But overall, Boxer has raised $16 million to Jones’ $6.2 million. And Boxer has spent about $7 million on radio and television ads alone. Jones has not aired any ads since declaring his candidacy in December.

“We are still committed to having the candidate contribute significant resources to the campaign, as well as raise funds with [former New York City Mayor Rudy] Giuliani and [Sen. John] McCain” in the next week, Jones strategist Sean Walsh said Friday.

But Walsh acknowledged that the report shows Jones, who is well behind in the polls, decided to repay himself for old loans rather than make a new one.

“That’s the way I read it,” Walsh said.

Jones, a former California secretary of state and assemblyman, is a member of a successful Central Valley ranching family. His personal wealth is poised to jump by about $25 million after completion of a merger between his Pacific Ethanol Co. and Accessity Corp. The merger was announced earlier this year but has not been completed.

Walsh said Jones’ third-quarter fundraising success was driven by visits by such high-profile Republicans as Vice President Dick Cheney, McCain and Giuliani.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also held a Los Angeles fundraiser for Jones in September, although Schwarzenegger didn’t appear because air traffic control problems stranded him in Sacramento.

But Jones has not been able to draw close enough to Boxer in polls to entice involvement from the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which could have funneled more than $3 million into the effort.

Jones’ cash-on-hand tally of just under $840,000 on Sept. 30 compared with $1.4 million for Boxer.

But Jones’ campaign said he had $445,000 in debts, leaving the campaign with about $400,000 after the outstanding bills are paid. Boxer had only $8,200 in outstanding debts.

Boxer’s fundraising trailed off in the third quarter from $2.9 million in the period ending June 30, and it’s unclear whether she will reach her original target of at least $20 million. Boxer spent $13.7 million six years ago to defeat GOP challenger Matt Fong, who spent $10.8 million -- nearly twice what Jones has raised.

Boxer campaign manager Rose Kapolczynski said the campaign had raised what it needed for the 2004 race, which is less than they originally expected.

“Starting out, the goal was to raise as much money as we possibly could,” Kapolczynski said. “We knew it had the potential to be a very expensive race.”

But the election has failed to gather much interest among voters -- few tell pollsters they are following it closely -- and Jones’ early problems raising money allowed the Boxer campaign to scale back plans, Kapolczynski said.

“The object isn’t to raise as much as you can, but enough to compete,” Kapolczynski said. “If our opponent was making a stronger effort, we might have needed more money. Right now, we think we can do it with less.”