Orange County Proves Golden for Candidates : Fund-raising: Politicians come from across the country to mine millions, but not all strike it rich.

WASHINGTON —  On a warm Saturday afternoon in mid-September, Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the House minority whip and silver-haired doyen of the New Right, dropped in on a small party at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel. He walked out with $50,000.

When GOP Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas was running for reelection, he came to Orange County to co-host an annual celebrity pistol and shotgun competition. During the trip, the senator took aim at Orange County donors and bagged $70,000.

The successes of the Georgia congressman and the Texas senator are not unique. Gingrich and Gramm are only two in a brigade of out-of-state politicians--mainly conservative Republicans, but also prominent Democrats--who regularly sweep through Orange County in search of the millions of dollars they need for political campaigns.

“It’s like a damn train station,” said longtime Republican strategist Stuart K. Spencer of Irvine, who twice helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House.

With a large number of Republican voters and a tightly knit community of wealthy developers anxious to make their influence felt in Washington, Orange County is a major source of capital for Republicans throughout the country. At the same time, it is not the inexhaustible mother lode of conservative money that some have imagined.

A Times computer analysis of data collected by the Federal Election Commission for the 1989-1990 election cycle, coupled with interviews with business leaders, political consultants, politicians and fund-raisers in Orange County and Washington, offers a revealing picture of the county’s national political giving habits.

During the last campaign, Orange County residents gave nearly $3.7 million to individual congressional candidates, federal political action committees and party organizations that directly support federal candidates.

More than $1.33 million went directly to individual candidates, both in California and out of state, nearly $1.29 million to federal PACs throughout the nation, and $1.05 million to party organizations.

Of the money that Orange County donors gave directly to candidates, nearly 75%--$988,481--went to Republicans.

Orange County Democrats who try to raise money for out-of-state candidates often run into trouble, said Richard J. O’Neill, a former county and state Democratic Party chairman. “They’ll get up a party for (a candidate), but they’ll always fall apart. . . . Every time they start calling they find out all their friends are Republicans,” O’Neill said.

Orange County’s most generous neighborhood, when it comes to federal candidates, is in the heart of Newport Beach, the 92660 ZIP code that flanks Upper Newport Bay. In the last campaign, residents there contributed more than $227,000 to congressional campaigns in California and across the country. The neighborhood was also California’s largest source of Republican money for congressional candidates, The Times analysis shows.

The bulk of the countywide Republican contributions from individuals--$561,598--went to the five GOP congressmen who represent Orange County on Capitol Hill. Another $265,776 went to Republican candidates for Congress elsewhere in California. More than $161,000 was shipped out to individual Republican Senate and House candidates in other states.

In contrast, Orange County Democrats gave just over $345,000 in federal races. About 47% of the total went to out-of-state politicians, including Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Paul Simon of Illinois.

The GOP’s success reflects its popularity among local voters. More than 55% of Orange County’s 1.06 million registered voters are Republicans, compared to 39.3% in California as a whole. About 11.5% of all California Republicans live in Orange County.

“Orange County is one of the largest Republican counties in the country and obviously has a lot of Republican contributors there, so it’s not surprising that over the years it has been a source of a lot of funds for Republican campaigns . . . ,” said E. Spencer Abraham, co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But not every out-of-state candidate can count on stuffing his or her pockets with Orange County cash.

In recent months, Orange County “rainmakers”--the influential business leaders who use their web of personal and professional contacts to raise big political money--have asked more than a few out-of-town conservatives to please stay home. In the midst of a recession that has decimated developers, the money, they say, just isn’t there. Some say the recent phenomenon is the beginning of a long-term trend.

Among those who got the message to stay home were Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp, seeking to retire debts from a presidential campaign, and Republican Sens. Alphonse D’Amato of New York, Steve Symms of Idaho and Christopher S. (Kit) Bond of Missouri.

The contrasting experiences of Gingrich, Kemp and the Republican senators illustrate the complex and often misunderstood nature of Orange County’s role in the world of national political fund raising.

While the 92660 ZIP code in Newport Beach is the top Republican neighborhood in California, it ranks 13th in the nation. Parts of the upper East Side of Manhattan, Dallas, Midland, Mich. (the corporate home of the Dow Chemical Co.) and Birmingham, Ala., all outrank Newport Beach as sources of Republican dollars. And even though Orange County Republicans shipped $161,000 to individual out-of-state candidates, local Democrats did slightly better.

“The impression is that you’ve got this huge repository of very wealthy Republicans who are sitting around just waiting for someone to roll into town, and that’s just not the case,” said Jack Flanigan, the Irvine Co.’s vice president for government relations. Flanigan is the chief political adviser to the Irvine Co.’s chairman and majority stockholder, Donald L. Bren.

The publicity-shy Bren, an early financial backer of both Pete Wilson and George Bush, is regarded by many as the most successful in the small group of Orange County business leaders who can raise substantial amounts of political money.

The group, which includes developers Donald M. Koll, George L. Argyros and William Lyon, has been compared to the collective of Los Angeles businessmen--Holmes Tuttle, A.C. (Cy) Rubel and Henry Salvatori, among them--who bankrolled the political career of Ronald Reagan.

Like Orange County’s biggest political donors, the area’s major fund-raisers are involved in the land development and construction industries. And they generally are wealthy--very wealthy. “It takes people with money to raise money. That premise has never changed,” Spencer said. “It’s a back-scratching operation.”

The out-of-state candidates who seem to be most successful in Orange County are the ones who have taken pains to cultivate relationships with the local givers and civic leaders. And, the fund-raisers say, they are the ones who are willing to get on the telephone to personally ask for money.

“It depends on whether the individual has a relationship with anyone. It has to start there,” says Keith E. Coplen of Coplen & Kraft, an Irvine public relations and fund-raising partnership. Coplen has been raising money in Orange County for more than 20 years.

“If (staff members) say, ‘Well, no, he really doesn’t make phone calls,’ you ask, ‘Does he know anybody ?’ If they say, ‘Well, no, not really,’ then we just sort of say he’d be better served not to take the time.”

In the last election cycle, the out-of-state politician who collected the most money--$30,100--from individual Orange County donors was Gramm of Texas. And that was no accident.

For each of the last five years, Gramm has traveled to Dana Point or Coto de Caza to co-host the Charlton Heston Celebrity Shotgun and Handgun Invitational Classic, an event that benefits the United States’ Olympic Shooting Team.

“You get an opportunity to build up a lot of relationships when you do that,” said Brad O’Leary, Gramm’s longtime fund-raiser. In 1988, when he was up for reelection, Gramm held a fund-raising party that raised $70,000 for his campaign.

In September, Gramm flew in to co-host a fund-raiser for former Anaheim state senator and current U.S. Sen. John Seymour. Held at the home of Kathryn G. Thompson, a home builder and prominent local fund-raiser, the event raised about $40,000.

“I wish Orange County were in Texas. People there think like I do,” Gramm said in an interview.

Gramm’s relationship with Orange County givers also has helped his Republican colleagues in the Senate. Gramm is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the organization that raises funds for Republican Senate campaigns.

In 1989, the Senatorial Committee created a spinoff, joint fund-raising group called the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle, whose members agreed to donate at least $1,000 each to be divided up among Senate campaigns across the country. FEC records indicate at least 32 Orange County residents were Inner Circle members who gave a total of $90,800 to the organization in 1989 and 1990.

Gingrich also has friends in Orange County. The fund-raiser at the Anaheim Marriott--for Gingrich’s conservative political action committee, GOPAC--was put together largely by developer Gus Owen, president of the Lincoln Club of Orange County.

The Lincoln Club, whose 300 or so members could fill a Who’s Who of local business leaders, is the one of the more active political action committees in the county, although in the last election cycle it contributed almost exclusively to candidates for state office.

Former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, defeated in last year’s election by Democrat Paul Wellstone, is another politician with Orange County ties. Boschwitz picked up $18,630 in individual contributions during the 1989-90 election cycle, largely at a luncheon organized by his friend Roger H. Schnapp, a Newport Beach labor relations attorney who chairs the Lincoln Club’s political action panel.

“California really just has a lot of money, and people are accustomed to giving politically out there,” Boschwitz said.

Even though Orange County is largely Republican, out-of-state Democrats still make the rounds, said O’Neill, the former party chairman who heads Orange County’s Democratic Foundation. The 70-member organization helps finance local Democratic Party activities and sponsors visits by national Democratic politicians, including Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell of Maine, and Rep. Les Aspin of Wisconsin.

“We can raise a few dollars,” O’Neill said. And, he added, Democrats are “sort of interested in this place where they think all the crazies come from.”

In 1989-90, Simon of Illinois, a Democratic presidential candidate in 1988, picked up $11,300 from Orange County contributors. Liberal Democrat Kerry of Massachusetts received $11,400. Sen. Bill Bradley, a Democrat from New Jersey, took home $8,700.

On the House side, another Massachusetts liberal, Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, got $8,800. House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri received eight Orange County contributions that totaled $8,000. And Rep. Mel Levine, a liberal Democrat from Los Angeles, looked south for $23,250 in contributions.

Even Democrat Harvey Gant, who mounted a hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful challenge to right-wing North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, took home $10,850 from Orange County donors. Helms, however, did better, with $15,061.

“There are good Democrats in this county. So they play the game in case their guy wins. They know they’re not going to carry Orange County, but if their guy wins someplace else, they have access to power,” said one political consultant.

In addition to giving directly to federal candidates, Orange County donors also are a major source of Republican “soft money”--contributions to party organizations for get-out-the-vote and other political activities that are not linked to specific candidates. Until last Jan. 1, soft money contributions did not have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission, but Republican Party officials provided a measure of the county’s importance to their effort.

Eight Orange County residents are members of an exclusive Republican organization whose 275 members each pledge at least $25,000 a year to the Republican National Committee for activities other than direct support of candidates, a committee spokeswoman said. Another 12 are members of the Eagles, whose members each year pledge at least $15,000.

And four major Orange County corporations, led by the Irvine Co., directly contributed at least $355,000 to the RNC during the 1989-1990 election cycle for support activities not linked to specific candidates, according to a study conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, a bipartisan group that lobbies for campaign finance reform. The study, which found no major corporate contributions to the Democratic Party for similar activities, used data supplied by the national party organizations.

In yet another measure of Orange County’s significance in national fund raising, locally based political action committees--organizations linked to business, labor or interest groups that raise and distribute campaign contributions--gave more than $540,000 to federal candidates during the last campaign, according to reports filed with the FEC. Slightly more than half of the money--$288,791--went to Republicans.

The biggest player among federal PACs based in Orange County is the Fluor Corp. Public Affairs Committee, which gave more than $305,000 to congressional candidates in 1989-90. Most of the money--$185,143--went to Republicans.

To fill their campaign chests, Republicans and Democrats alike depend on two distinct groups--the rainmakers and the donors. Nearly all the most important members of both groups are involved in real estate development or housing construction. But there is little overlap between the biggest donors and those who raise the most money.

The Times analysis of Orange County campaign giving shows that, of the county’s major rainmakers, only Bren of the Irvine Co. is also on the list of Orange County’s top individual contributors to federal candidates, political action committees and party organizations that directly support candidates (although Argyros and Lyon, like Bren, are members of Team 100 and contribute substantial amounts of soft money to the Republican Party).

“There are donors and there are (fund-)raisers in this business,” said Spencer, the Republican strategist. Before 1974, when Congress imposed $1,000 annual limits on individual contributions to federal candidates, fat cats who could write a check for $100,000 were of far more importance to politicians than community leaders who could persuade others to contribute. That has all changed.

“Under the old game, I’d (curry the favor) of the donors,” Spencer said. “The best example . . . was Dave Packard (one of the founders of the Hewlett-Packard electronics empire), a great guy. If I went to Dave Packard and said, ‘I need $400,000,’ he could raise $100,000 and he’d give me the other $300,000. . . .

“In today’s market, where you need lots of contributions and you need a wider base than you used to need, a fund-raiser is of more value to you than a donor.”

Among local rainmakers, “Bren is number one,” said Spencer. “I call him the new Holmes Tuttle.” Tuttle, a Los Angeles auto dealer who died in 1989, for years was a major force in national Republican fund raising, and one of the chief sponsors of Ronald Reagan’s political career.

Bren is regarded as a bellwether in the Orange County business community. Republican businessmen “begin to look for certain guys,” said one corporate executive. “Where’s Murdoch? Where’s Cook? Where’s Bren?” The executive was referring to financier David H. Murdoch, and to Lodwrick M. Cook, chairman and chief executive officer of Arco, both based in Los Angeles.

Bren’s longtime association with Pete Wilson has paid off for the former senator, who was elected governor last November. In the last election cycle, Wilson’s Senate campaign committee raised $112,590 in Orange County to pay off old debts. The figure made Wilson the third-biggest recipient of Orange County federal contributions, behind two of the five local congressmen.

In addition to Wilson, Bren has helped raise money for the late Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania, who died in an airplane crash last April. And he lent his name to a Los Angeles fund-raiser held in September for former Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh, who resigned in July to seek Heinz’s Senate seat. Thornburgh was defeated in the Nov. 5 election by appointed Sen. Harris Wofford.

The Irvine Co., meanwhile, ranked as the fourth-largest contributor of soft money to the Republican National Committee in 1989-90, with donations totaling $150,100, according to the study by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Other key Republican rainmakers in Orange County are:

* Koll, a former Air Force fighter pilot who in 1962 formed the Koll Co. He is now chairman and chief executive officer. The company is one of the largest owners and managers of commercial real estate in the nation. Koll donated $25,000 in soft money to the RNC during the last election cycle, according to the study by the Center for Responsive Politics.

* Argyros, a onetime owner of the Seattle Mariners baseball team and current president of Arnel Development Co., one of the county’s largest developers of apartments and office buildings. Arnel Development gave $50,000 to the RNC in 1989-90, according to the study.

* Lyon, a former major general in the Air Force and the owner of the William Lyon Co., a Newport Beach development concern that is Southern California’s largest home builder. Lyon and Argyros also are the former owners of AirCal, the small regional airline that was purchased by American Airlines in 1987. The William Lyon Co. contributed $65,000 in soft money to the RNC in 1989-90, the study said.

* Thompson, founder and chief executive of Kathryn G. Thompson Development Co., a major builder of moderately priced homes. She is married to Owen, the Lincoln Club president. Thompson donated $25,000 to the Republican National Committee during the last election cycle, according to the soft money study.

Not coincidentally, Bren, Argyros and Lyon are Orange County’s wealthiest residents, according to Forbes Magazine’s annual tally of the nation’s 400 richest citizens. In the most recent survey, the magazine ranked Bren’s net worth as $1.1 billion, Lyon’s at $350 million, and Argyros’ at $290 million.

O’Neill, the most prominent Orange County Democrat, also is on the Forbes list, with an estimated net worth of $300 million.

But Orange County’s rainmakers are not necessarily the biggest local givers. Bren, for example, placed 11th on The Times’ list of Orange County individuals contributing to individual federal candidates.

Despite the generosity of the local givers, business leaders and political consultants said they expect Orange County’s support of out-of-state candidates to decline dramatically in the coming election campaign.

First, they said, there will be unprecedented demands on local donors to give their money to House and Senate candidates in California. For the first time in the state’s history, California politicians will wage two U.S. Senate campaigns at the same time. And one of the candidates--former Anaheim state Sen. John Seymour--is a local, appointed by Wilson to fill the seat left vacant when Wilson was elected governor.

Meanwhile, a combination of reapportionment, retirement and ambition for higher office is likely to open up as many as 15 of the 52 seats California will have in the House of Representatives, creating a further demand for campaign cash. All told, several political observers have estimated that rainmakers and their professional consultants will need to raise more than $100 million for California House and Senate races alone.

“I just don’t know see where it’s going to come from,” Coplen said.

Another complicating factor is the persistent recession that has devastated the land development and real estate industries and shows no signs of disappearing.

“We’ve got so much on our plate that we can’t be responsive to everybody,” said Flanigan of the Irvine Co. Local business leaders who raise political money “have basically delivered the message to Washington to give us a respite,” he said. “We’ve got to really focus on these California seats.”

Others suggest that the downturn in Orange County political giving, not only to candidates from far afield, but to hometown politicians as well, may continue well beyond the coming election and the end of the recession.

“I see a fundamental change coming,” said Spencer. “I think you may be watching, in the middle of this decade, a peaking-out of Orange County.” He suggested that the developers who fuel political fund raising in Orange County will be less and less interested in raising and giving money as their major projects are completed.

“I would anticipate a downward spiral (in political giving) instead of an upward spiral because of the way the county is going to change,” Spencer added.

Others are not so sure.

“Every place you go has its own kind of base,” said Larry Thomas, the Irvine Co.’s vice president for communications. The growth of Orange County during the past 20 years has been sparked largely by real estate development, and as a result developers have played a major role in the county’s commercial and political life, Thomas said.

But as the county matures, new business leaders--the presidents of the computer, electronics and medical equipment firms moving into the area--are likely to take the place of developers and builders in the pantheon of political givers, Thomas suggested.

“I have a feeling that what you’re going to see over time is a transfer,” he said, “a new leadership emerging that is based more on the commerce of the area than it was on the original development.”

Times researcher Janice Jones contributed to this story.

Orange County PACs: the Most Generous

Locally based political action committees organizations linked with business, labor or other interest groups gave more than half a million dollars to congressional candidates in 1989-90. Slightly more than half, $288,791, went to Republican candidates.

Charts show number of contributions and amounts contributed to both parties.

1. Fluor Corp. (Public Affairs Committee) REP. (83): $185,143 DEM. (59): $120,200 Total: $305,343

2. Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. (Political Action Committee) REP. (26): $35,000 DEM. (41): $53,8000 Total: $88,800

3. FHP Healthcare (Political Action Committee) REP. (23): $23,250 DEM. (23): $29,450 Total: $52,700

4. Irvine Co. (Employees Political Action Committee) REP. (12): $12,398 DEM. (13): $16,100 Total: $27,498

5. Western Growers Ann.(Political Action Committee) REP. (21): $14,000 DEM. (10): $6,000 Total: $22,300

6. Mercury Savings and Loan Assn. (Political Action Committee) DEM. (5): $7,3000 Total: $7,300

7. CAREPAC--Pacificare Health Systems Inc. DEM. (6): $4,300

REP. (5): $2,700 Total: $7,000

8. Beatrice / Hunt-Wesson Inc. (Political Action Committee) DEM. (4): $6,377 Total: $6,377

9. HOMEDCO Inc. (Political Action Committee) DEM. (7): $4,000

REP. (2): $1,500 Total: $5,500

10. Better Health Care of Memorial health Services DEM. (1): $1,250

REP. (1): $4,000 Total: $5,250

11. Lincoln Club of Orange County REP. (1): $5,000 Total: $5,000

12. Western Financial Savings Bank (Political Action Committee) DEM. (1): $1,000

REP. (4): $2,650 Total: $3,650

13. Downey Savings and Loan Assn. (Political Action Committee) DEM. (1): $500

REP. (2): $1,350 Total: $1,850

14. Elections Committee / County of Orange DEM. (3): $650

REP. (2): $500 Total: $1,150

15. William Lyon Co. (Political Action Committee) REP. (1): $1,000 Total: $1,000

Who Gives, Who Receives: An Anatomy of Political Fund Raising

Developers rank among the most generous individuals in the county when they open checkbooks for congressional candidates and federal political action committees. That giving has led candidates well known in national politics to make regular trips here to tap rich funding sources. Here are who give the most and who receive the most contributions, based on The Times’ computer assisted analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

O.C.’s Leading Individual Contributors, 1989-90

* Stephen J. Cloobeck of Newport Beach. A developer of retail shopping centers and malls, Cloobeck is the president of SJC Management Inc. According to The Times analysis, he contributed $28,329 to Democratic federal candidates.

* Alfred E. Baldwin, a developer who, with his brother James P. Baldwin, runs the Baldwin Co. development firm in Irvine. Alfred Baldwin contributed $28,000 to candidates for federal office in 1989-90. The Baldwins figured in complaints that Orange County Supervisor Harriet Weider violated local campaign finance law by voting on a matter involving the company after accepting $1,000 each from the Baldwin brothers and their wives.

* Michael D. Ray, Democratic Party fundraiser and executive vice president of J. Ray Construction Company in Irvine. Contributed $27,050.

* David F. Stein, Democratic Party fund-raiser and chairman of the board of PNB Financial Group, holding company for Pacific National Bank. Is president of Stein-Brief Group Inc.in Dana Point. Stein, the master planner and developer of Monarch Beach, serves on the Board of Fellows at the Claremont University Center and Graduate School, was founding chairman of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County and was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1984-1988. Contributed $24,075.

* Peter M. Ochs, chairman and chief executive officer of Fieldstone Co., a Newport Beach-based development firm. Is national chairman of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way and a member of the national board of directors. Is a three-term member of the board of trustees of the South Coast Repertory Theatre and chairman of the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts. Contributed $23,500.

* Lee C. Sammis, President of Lee Sammis Associates, an Irvine development firm. Contributed $22,250.

* Joe MacPherson, President and owner of four automobile dealerships including MacPherson Ford in Tustin and Joe MacPherson Oldsmobile in Santa Ana. Contributed $21,100.

* Peter Muth, Chairman of Orco Block Company Inc., a Stanton building materials firm. Contributed $17,240.

* Richard B. Vind of Brea, president of Regent International, a firm that markets ethanol--a mixture of gasoline and alcohol--as an alternative fuel for automobiles. Vind gave $28,100 to federal candidates during the last election cycle.

* Patricia O’Donnell, Newport Beach arts activist and wife of John D. O’Donnell, owner of The O’Donnell Group development firm in Irvine. Contributed $25,000.

* Emily H.M. Kuo Lee, Corona Del Mar businesswoman and director of the Wei-Mei Speech and Hearing Center in Taipei. Contributed $24,122 to Republican candidates.

* Mark H. Lee, Democratic fundraiser from Orange and owner of General Aluminum Forging in Santa Ana. Contributed $23,750.

* Howard Ahmanson, Republican philanthropist from Corona Del Mar and owner of Fieldstead & Co., an Irvine development firm. Son of the late Howard F. Ahmanson, founder of Home Savings of America. Contributed $21,850.

* Willis L. Miller, Owner of Los Alisos Mobile Home Estates in Westminster. Contributed $20,000 to Republican candidates.

* Chuck Rheem, Self-employed Anaheim resident. Contributed $18,890.

Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times

Where O.C. Money Goes Out of State

Candidates for Congress collected more than $1.33 million directly from county donors in 1989 and 1990. Orange County contributors gave $161,107 to Republican candidates outside of California, and $162,673 to Democratic candidates outside the state. The Times’ computer-assisted analysis of Federal Election Commission records shows where county dollars flowed.

Chart shows which states received contributions from Orange County, the number of contributions, the total amount contributed, and the ranking of the states, first by Democratic recipients, then by Republican.

Contributions to Out-of-State Democrats 1. Massachusetts: 36; $20,700 2. Illinois: 30; $12,550 3. North Carolina: 55; $11,850 4. Oklahoma: 11; $10,300 5. New Jersey: 18; $9,450 6. New York: 25; $8,890 7. Missouri: 12; $8,500 8. Montana: 16; $7,900 9. Rhode Island: 19; $7,100 10. Michigan: 14; $6,300 11. Hawaii: 18; $5,050 12. Texas: 47; $5,000 13. Tennessee: 8; $4,250 13. Indiana: 20; $4,250 14. Nebraska: 16; $3,750 15. North Dakota: 7; $3,075 16. Virginia: 7; $2,950 17. Oregon: 16; $2,850 18. West Virginia: 5; $2,550 19. Alabama: 7; $2,500 19. Georgia: 5; $2,500 19. Louisiana: 6; $2,500 20. Florida: 3; $2,000 20. Iowa: 3; $2,000 21. Idaho: 3; $1,500 21. Arkansas: 6; $1,500 22. Delaware: 5; $1,400 23. Colorado: 18; $1,200 24. Wisconsin: 3; $1,050 25. Nevada: 1; $1,000 25. South Carolina: 4; $1,000 26. Washington: 5; $500 27. New Mexico: 3; $333 28. Connecticut: 6; $250 28. District of Columbia: 1; $250

Contributions to Republicans outside of California 1. Texas: 47; $30,350 2. Minnesota: 39; $20,130 3. North Carolina: 55; $14,601 4. South Dakota: 9; 8,250 5. Nebraska: 16; $7,750 6. Hawaii: 18; $6,475 7. Colorado: 18; $5,750 8. Utah: 10; $5,500 9. Oregon: 16; $5,466 10. Indiana: 20; $4,600 11. Iowa: 9; $4,500 12. Pennsylvania: 4; $4,000 13. New York: 25; $3,700 14. Connecticut: 6; $3,500 15. Massachusetts: 16; $3,000 15. Missouri: 12; $3,000 15. New Jersey: 18; $3,000 16. Washington: 5; $2,250 17. Alaska: 3; $2,200 18. Illinois: 30; $2,050 18. Wyoming: 3; $2,050 19. Arkansas: 6; $2,000 19. New Hampshire: 2; $2,000 20. South Carolina: 4; $1,650 21. Ohio: 2; $1,500 21. Arizona: 2; $1,000 21. Delaware: 6; $1,000 21. Kentucky: 5; $1,000 21. Louisiana: 6; $1,000 21. Montana: 16; $1,000 22. Michigan: 14; $750 22. New Mexico: 3; $750 23. Alabama: 7; $500 23. Florida: 3; $500 23. Virginia: 7; $500 23. Vermont: 1; $500 24. Tennessee: 26; $250 25. Maine: 1; $200

Source: Los Angeles Times analysis of Federal Election Commission records

Out-of State Candidates Who Tapped O.C. Contributors

Candidates from both parties most favored by Orange County political contributors in 1989 and 1990. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.): $11,400 Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.): $11,300 Harvey Gant (D-NC): $10,850 Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.): $8,800 Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas): $70,000 Former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minn.): $18,630 Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) $15,061 Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.): $8,250

Local Giving, California Candidates

California congressional candidates most favored by Orange County contributors.

REPUBLICANS:

Rep. Christopher Cox: $347,473

Gov. Pete Wilson: $112,590

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer: $108,240

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: $65,828

Robert Hammock: $50,150

DEMOCRATS:

Rep. Mel Levine: $23,250

Judge David Carter: $19,550

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy (Raised for Senate campaigns): $19,350

Eugene Gratz: $15,425

Rep. Mervyn Dymally: $15,250