Newsom’s governor’s race funds dwarf rivals’
Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, leading all the polls in the race to replace termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown, is pulling away in the fundraising derby as well.
The former San Francisco mayor had more than $20 million in the bank as of April 21, the closing date for the latest state campaign finance reports.
His front-running campaign has raised more that $4.6 million since Jan. 1, nearly double the $2.4 million collected by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and close to four times the $1.2 million taken in by state Treasurer John Chiang.
The two leading Republican candidates in the June 5 primary, businessman John Cox and Orange County Assemblyman Travis Allen, also trailed Newsom in the money race. Allen received $683,298 in contributions this year, leaving him with about $147,000 in the bank. While Cox re-
ported about $1.6 million in contributions, slightly over $1 million came out of his own pocket, bringing his personal contributions to his campaign to more than $4 million.
With election day just over six weeks away and mail ballots scheduled to arrive in early May, it’s cash in the bank that’s important, since that’s the money needed for the pricey flood of radio, TV and mailed ads that will inundate the state in upcoming weeks.
Newsom’s $20 million in cash on hand is well above the $7.87 million in Chiang’s account, the $7.1 million Villaraigosa has available or Cox’s $1.2 million. Democrat Delaine Eastin, former state schools chief, has $140,000 in the bank, but she also has $101,000 in unpaid bills.
Newsom’s pile of available cash has enabled him to lead all challengers in spending so far this year, with $3.65 million, about $1.3 million more than any other candidate.
A number of candidates say they aren’t worried that they don’t have the most money as long as they have enough money.
Villaraigosa, for example, “has the resources to convey his message to the people of California,” a spokesman said in a statement.
But not all the cash in the governor’s race shows up on the candidate’s financial reports.
Villaraigosa, for example, has been helped by $2.59 million in spending from an independentexpenditure group financed by three wealthy advocates for charter schools. The group still has about $7 million in the bank it can use to support Villaraigosa, who was a strong advocate of charter schools as mayor of Los Angeles.
Newsom and Chiang are getting money from other outside groups. Nurses for Newsom, backed by the California Nurses Association, has spent $229,000 to support the lieutenant governor and reported about $1 million in the bank for future spending. Just this week, it spent about $300,000 of that for proNewsom radio ads.
A group backed by the Union of Health Care Professionals has spent $125,000 supporting Chiang.
“Our campaign is well positioned to spend significantly before the June primary and reach millions of California voters to secure a spot in the November runoff,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Chiang, said in a statement. — John Wildermuth Seats not so safe: California Republicans might not have to defend just the seven congressional districts Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 — they may have to spend time and cash defending two other seats they thought were “safe,” says national prognosticator Larry Sabato.
On Thursday, Sabato, founder of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and a ubiquitous cable TV presence, changed the races involving Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove (Sacramento County), and Rep. Devin Nunes , RTulare, from “safe Republican” to “likely Republican.”
Two very big caveats from Sabato.
First, he said, “all of these members remain solid favorites for re-election, but at the same time, many seem likely to face better-funded challengers than they are used to.”
And, he added, “while there are scenarios in which Democrats gain many more than the 23 net seats they need to win the House this year — perhaps double that or even more — but their overall odds to take control remain about 50-50.” — Joe Garofoli
To attack or not: State Sen. Ricardo Lara , DBell Gardens (Los Angeles County), a candidate for
state insurance commissioner, sounded strangely coy about whether he plans to attack one of his rivals, Steve Poizner, for the hard-line positions Poizner took on immigration during the bareknuckle 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary that the then-Republican lost to Meg Whitman.
At the time, Poizner supported cutting “taxpayer-funded benefits” for “illegal aliens,” including in-state tuition at public colleges. He wanted the California National Guard to assist federal authorities in patrolling the U.S.Mexico border. He supported Arizona’s controversial SB1070, which made failing to carry immigration documentation a crime and gave law enforcement officers broad powers to detain anyone they believed to be in the country illegally. He opposed sanctuary cities.
Poizner, a wealthy technology entrepreneur who is running for his old job as insurance commissioner as a nonpartisan candidate, told The Chronicle that he’s changed on many of those positions.
It’s likely that Lara will attack Poizner on these issues, given that he has made immigration issues and resistance to President Trump part of his campaign. But he demurred to say whether he would during an interview with The Chronicle’s editorial board this week.
“Some of us have the luxury to say ‘I’m sorry’ and get a pass,” Lara said. “I’m glad he repents what he said. It’s an important part of his coming to terms with the new California reality.”
Lara was asked to clarify if he was inferring that Poizner could “get a pass” because he’s a rich white guy.
“You said that, I didn’t,” Lara said. “I just think people are treated differently. If some of us made a mistake like that we wouldn’t be able to recover. That’s what I’m saying.” — Joe Garofoli