Money talks

“Money is the mother’s milk of politics,” said Jesse “Big Daddy” Unruh, who once ruled Sacramento as Assembly leader. Little did he know: More than $447 million has been poured into the 2006 elections, with about three weeks still to go before voting day.

$107,000,000 - Proposition 87 has set a money record. Stephen Bing became the biggest individual initiative donor ever, giving $40 million to the campaign in favor of the measure’s oil tax, which would fund the promotion of alternative energies. Oil companies have given more than $60 million in opposition. The total: an unprecedented $107 million.

$6,300,000 - What do Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have in common? A lot of money from A. Jerrold Perenchio, chairman of Univision. The television magnate gave $1.2 million to the former Democratic governor, but he’s Schwarzenegger’s largest contributor, with nearly $4.9 million in donations since 2001. The governor’s Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, got $186,000.

$388,000 - Hewlett-Packard’s internal problems haven’t slowed its campaign donations. The tech giant gave $25,000 to Schwarzenegger, raising its grand total for contributions to all of the governor’s campaigns to $380,000. Angelides has received $8,000.

$11,000,000 - In the most financially lopsided contest for state office, Democratic Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, running for state treasurer, has $10.6 million in the bank. Board of Equalization member Claude Parrish, his Republican opponent, has $323,000.

$3,500,000 - Angelides relies heavily on organized labor to fund his campaign for governor, collecting $3.5 million this year from unions, or 20% of the money he has raised in 2006. Although he’s a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Schwarzenegger reports receiving no donations from organized labor.

*

Reporting by Times staff writer Dan Morain.

dan.morain@latimes.com

For exclusive Web features, including the new Political Muscle blog, go to latimes.com/calpolitics.