Mansoor leads field in campaign donations

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) is leading the field of 74th Assembly District candidates in direct campaign donations, records show.

Mansoor, the former mayor of Costa Mesa, raised $125,000 from Jan. 1 to May 19, according to the most recent records available

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Democrat Bob Rush, a Newport Beach real estate investor, brought in nearly $30,000 in contributions.

Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, a Republican, raised $24,500 in that time period.

Mansoor’s campaign reported a campaign chest of $77,000; Rush, $67,000; and Daigle, $50,000.

Each is vying for the newly redrawn 74th District, a territory that includes Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach. The primary is Tuesday, and the two top voter-getters, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election.

Funded wholly by contributions, Daigle’s campaign hasn’t taken out loans and is free of debt. Mansoor’s campaign is $55,000 in debt, according to the records, while Rush has made a $100,000 loan to his campaign.

Though the Mansoor campaign showed some fundraising chops, Daigle’s campaign has been bolstered by nearly $670,000 in spending by outside political groups.

Since the beginning of May, Spirit of Democracy California, a political action group backed by Northern California Republican activist Charles Munger Jr., the son of one of Warren Buffett’s business partners, has spent about $568,000 for Daigle.

The organization paid for polls, campaign consultants, mass mailers and TV airtime.

Another group, Californians for Fiscal Accountability, also spent more than $50,000 on Daigle’s campaign. They also spent another $100,000 on literature opposing Mansoor and Rush.

Mansoor had received $45,000 in outside support for mailers and campaign literature.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Twitter: @JosephSerna