Coffers Bulging for Special Election

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decides whether to call a special election to put his proposals before voters, corporations, individuals and unions report that they have donated more than $40 million to initiative campaigns and other causes so far this year.

Schwarzenegger’s aides and Democratic legislators continued negotiating Monday over the governor’s proposals to cap state spending and overhaul the way voting districts are drawn.

Meanwhile, campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state showed six-figure checks being written to advance or impede those measures and others that could appear before the electorate in a special election.

“The dogs of war are about to get released,” said Marty Wilson, one of Schwarzenegger’s top campaign aides, referring to the large sums that could be spent if there is an election.

Schwarzenegger has raised almost $4 million so far this year in his personal campaign accounts, including one for his 2006 reelection. His campaign committee announced Monday that it would spend some of the millions it has raised by airing a commercial statewide promoting the measure he says would limit state spending. The ad appears to be aimed at building support for his measure and pressuring legislators to strike a deal with him that could avert a contentious special election.

Citizens to Save California, the main committee backing Schwarzenegger’s potential initiatives, reported raising $8.2 million, virtually all of it from individuals and companies that also donate to Schwarzenegger’s own campaign committees.

The largest single donor, at $1.5 million, is A. Jerrold Perenchio, chairman of the Spanish-language television network Univision. Schwarzenegger’s campaign committees reported having contributed the second-largest sum, $1.31 million. Schwarzenegger transferred the money last week.

Other major donors include Schwarzenegger patrons John A. Gunn, chairman of the investment firm Dodge & Cox, who gave $500,000; Southern California-based builder William Lyon Homes, and Security National Servicing Corp., a real estate firm, which gave $250,000 each; and Ameriquest Capital Corp., a mortgage lender, at $100,000.

Reed Hastings, chairman of the movie rental company Netflix, reported Monday that he gave $200,000 to support the proposal to redraw legislative boundaries -- an idea opposed by Democrats, who control the Legislature, and by many Republican legislators. Hastings said in an e-mail that he gave the money in hopes that the measure would open the way for the election of more moderate legislators.

Schwarzenegger nominated Hastings, a Democrat, to the state Board of Education, but the Senate rejected his nomination earlier this year. Hastings said the rejection had nothing to do with his decision to donate the $200,000.

The Alliance for a Better California, the main campaign committee established to oppose the governor’s measures, reported raising $7.5 million. The California Teachers Assn., the largest union of public school teachers in the state, was the biggest single donor to the committee, at $2.8 million.

Unions representing other government workers gave large sums as well.

The Service Employees International Union has given $2.65 million to the Alliance, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has added $500,000. The California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., which represents the state’s prison guards, donated $125,000.

Schwarzenegger is pushing three possible initiatives that could go on the ballot if he calls an election -- one to toughen requirements for teacher tenure in public schools, the redistricting measure and the plan to impose spending curbs on the state budget.

Many other measures could appear on the same ballot. Political experts tracking the bevy of initiatives in circulation say that there could be as many as 10. They include an initiative to require parental notification before minors obtain abortions and one that would raise property taxes on businesses.

Organized labor and Democrats have prepared measures to cut prescription drug prices, impose regulations on the electric energy industry and give car buyers greater rights.

The governor’s political allies are touting what could be the costliest measure of all -- an initiative that would limit public employee unions’ ability to raise campaign money. It would require that they receive approval each year from union members to use union dues for political activities. The governor has not said whether he would endorse such a measure.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said Monday that the so-called paycheck protection initiative would unleash “nuclear political war in November.” The initiative would threaten one of the Democrats’ main sources of campaign contributions -- unions.

Lewis K. Uhler, a Sacramento anti-tax advocate promoting the measure aimed at unions, said he has gathered enough signatures to place it on the ballot and plans to begin submitting them today to be verified and counted by election officials.

Uhler’s committee, called the Coalition for Employee Rights, reports getting the bulk of the $360,000 it raised since January from the Small Business Action Committee. That political action committee has not reported the sources of its money.

As a so-called general purpose committee, the Small Business group is not required to disclose its donors until June 30.

Democrats have complained to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, contending that the Small Business Action Committee should be required to disclose contributions. The head of the Small Business Action Committee is Joel Fox, who is co-chairman of Citizens to Save California, the group backing Schwarzenegger’s proposed initiatives.

The correction officers and teachers reported donating a combined $800,000 to a group that is gathering signatures for the initiative that would raise property taxes on businesses. Passage of such a measure would increase government revenue, the source of public employee wages.

“They -- management and big business -- have vastly underestimated the strength of organized labor in this state,” said Lance Corcoran, a vice president of the prison officers’ union.

Corcoran said the union, which represents more than 20,000 officers and others, is considering asking its members to increase their dues to help pay for the campaign.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., named after a proponent of 1978’s Proposition 13 to lower property taxes, has established a committee that would battle the business property tax initiative. It has raised $485,000, with $250,000 coming from Ameriquest and $100,000 from ChevronTexaco Corp.

“We’re already driving businesses out of the state,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Jarvis group. “We view it as a substantial threat.”

In other filings Monday, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland), facing what appears to be a broad federal criminal investigation, reported raising $117,400 for his legal defense fund.

He spent almost $256,000 on attorneys and a private investigator, leaving him with a significant debt. The bulk of the donations came from Oakland-area businesses that long have given to Perata’s campaigns.

Democrat Kevin Shelley, who resigned earlier this year as secretary of state amid civil and criminal investigations related to campaign finances and management of his office, reported that he raised $154,263 for his legal defense.

Nunez was the largest single donor, giving Shelley $15,000 from the speaker’s campaign fund.

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Times staff writer Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.