Davis Leads Fund-Raising Drive

Labor unions, entertainment industry figures, developers and an array of other interests with a stake in what happens in Sacramento are lining up behind Gov. Gray Davis as he battles the effort to bounce him from office.

Since the recall measure was placed on the ballot, the governor’s anti-recall receipts have eclipsed all fund-raising by those supporting his ouster.

Davis’ two committees collected more than $2.4 million in contributions of $1,000 or more so far this month, according to reports filed with the secretary of state.

Fund-raising by pro-recall groups has slowed markedly since late July, when the question qualified for the Oct. 7 ballot. Only $418,000 has been reported by pro-recall groups in August.

Davis -- known as a champion fund-raiser -- has been drawing large checks from stalwart supporters, particularly in organized labor, which pumped millions of dollars into his election campaigns.

The Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees have given $250,000 each in recent days.

Labor leaders meeting Tuesday in Manhattan Beach reiterated their opposition to the recall effort, while backing Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as their choice should Davis lose his job. Dean Tipps, head of the SEIU, which represents 500,000 members in California, explained organized labor’s generosity. “Labor spends money,” he said. “We want to make sure turnout is not skewed against working people.”

The state Building and Construction Trades Council of California has provided $155,619 in August to fight the recall. The union representing California Highway Patrolmen donated $25,000.

The Amalgamated Transit Union, which is locked in contract talks with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has sent $20,000 to the Davis committees this month. The governor recently called for a 60-day cooling off period to head off a strike by MTA mechanics.

State law generally limits contributions to gubernatorial candidates to $21,200, but Davis is not a candidate on the recall ballot and is not subject to any caps.

The governor’s anti-recall effort this month received $100,000 checks from financier R. Allen Stanford and from his Houston-based Stanford Financial Group.

Norman Pattiz, chairman of broadcaster Westwood One Inc., also sent $100,000.

So did Beverly Hills-based developer Casden Properties. An identical sum came from Robert Gumbiner of Long Beach, a collector of Latin American art and the founder of the health maintenance organization FHP International Corp.

Two companies with large timber holdings in California, Sierra Pacific Industries of Redding and Simpson Investments of Seattle, each gave $25,000 to Davis’ anti-recall effort this month. Both companies supported Republican Dan Lungren for governor in 1998 but switched sides once Democrat Davis was elected.

The anti-recall effort received $25,000 from the Newport Beach law firm of Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson, which represented Davis in a major lawsuit against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

In addition to seeking donations to his anti-recall committees, Californians Against the Costly Recall of the Governor and Taxpayers Against the Governor’s Recall, Davis has been raising money for his old reelection committee.

“A lot of donors who donated to the governor in the past are accustomed to giving to the Gray Davis Committee,” said campaign spokesman Gabriel Sanchez. “The limits do not apply” to those gifts.

During August, the Gov. Gray Davis Committee received $100,000 from the state’s second-largest workers’ compensation carrier, Zenith Insurance of Woodland Hills. The committee collected the same amount from the Sacramento development firm of Angelo Tsakopoulos, a longtime donor to Democrats.

Entertainment mogul Haim Saban and Hollywood producer Steven Bing both gave $100,000 to the governor earlier this year.

Supporters of the recall have their own committees, which are not subject to contribution limits. Two Orange County businessmen -- Newport Beach home-builder William Lyon and Paul Folino, chief executive of Costa Mesa-based Emulex, a supplier of computer network equipment -- have given nearly $200,000 to the Total Recall Committee established by GOP gubernatorial contender Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Folino donated almost $100,000 to that committee. No donations from Schwarzenegger to the committee have been reported to the state.

Folino said he contributed the maximum $21,200 to Schwarzenegger’s campaign for governor and wanted to do more toward the recall effort.

“I felt strongly enough about my support for Arnold that I wanted

The recall committee Rescue California received $50,000 this month from Schwarzenegger, who is also raising money separately for his gubernatorial effort.

The group received $35,000 this month from the congressional campaign committee of Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. His company, Greene Properties Inc., contributed more than $1.5 million -- mostly in loans -- to bankroll the petition drive that put the recall question on the ballot. Issa’s company also gave $50,000 in August.

The same committee reported receiving $34,000 on Sunday from Raveesh Kumra, president of Western Cellular Management Inc. in Santa Clara County.

Investment banker Bill Simon Jr., who lost the governor’s race to Davis last year and on Saturday abandoned his second quest to replace him, gave $10,000 to Rescue California on Friday.

Lungren, who was state attorney general when he lost the 1998 gubernatorial contest, contributed $10,000 to the Davis Recall Committee.

Rather than pump money directly into the pro-recall effort, businessman Peter V. Ueberroth, state Sen. Tom McClintock, both Republicans, and Bustamante have been raising money for their own campaigns to replace Davis in case he is recalled.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Funds to Back Davis

Contributions to the anti-recall campaign committees during August 2003:

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees PAC, Washington...$250,000

California State Council of Service Employees, Sacramento...$250,000

Democratic Governors Assn., Washington...$250,000

State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, Sacramento...$155,619

Casden Properties, Beverly Hills...$100,000

E & J Gallo Winery, Modesto...$100,000

Norman Pattiz, Beverly Hills, Chairman, Westwood One Inc....$100,000

R. Allen Stanford, Houston, Chairman, Stanford Financial Group Co....$100,000

Stanford Financial Group, Houston...$100,000

Robert Gumbiner, Long Beach...$100,000

Operating Engineers Local No. 3, Alameda...$75,000

Political Action for Classified Employees-CSEA, Sacramento...$50,000

Stanley M. Zimmerman, Los Angeles, President, Home Budget Loan...$50,000

Democratic State Central Committee, Sacramento...$45,524.12

California Professional Firefighters PAC, Sacramento...$25,000

California Cable and Telecommunications Assn., Oakland...$25,000

California State Pipe Trades Council, Sacramento...$25,000

Cotchett, Pitre, Simon, & McCarthy, Burlingame...$25,000

Eugene La Pietra, Los Angeles, Owner, Arena Circus...$25,000

George M. Marcus, Palo Alto, Chairman, Marcus & Millichap...$25,000

Machinists Nonpartisan Political League, Upper Marlboro...$25,000

Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson, Newport Beach...$25,000

Sierra Pacific Industries, Redding...$25,000

Simpson Investments, Seattle...$25,000

Steamfitters Local 342, Concord...$25,000

Wine Institute Fund, San Francisco...$25,000

Playa Capital Co., Los Angeles...$20,000

Signature Properties, Pleasanton...$20,000

California Labor Federation, Oakland...$15,000

Amalgamated Transit Union, Washington...$10,000

California Conference Board-Amalgamated Transit Union, Sacramento...$10,000

Source: Contribution reports filed with the secretary of state through Aug. 26; Compiled by Times researcher Maloy Moore

Los Angeles Times

*

Contributions race

These contributions were reported by major candidates on the recall ballot who have received sums of at least $100,000 for their gubernatorial campaigns. Totals are for contributions larger than $1,000, the minimum that must be reported at this time. Donations must be reported within 24 hours of receipt.

Cruz Bustamante

Total reported: $ 526,200 from 75 contributions

Amount reported for 24 hours ending Tuesday: $99,700 from 12 contributions

* The California State Employees Assn., one of the state’s largest unions, contributed $21,200.* Nutricion Fundamental Inc., which owns a chain of food stores in California, also contributed $21,200.

Arianna Huffington

Total reported: $222,000 from 63 contributions

Amount reported for 24 hours ending Tuesday: $37,500 from nine contributions.

* Huffington contributors continued to be largely from the entertainment industry. Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, producers of the films “I Am Sam” and “Traffic,” contributed $10,000 each.

Tom McClintock

Total reported: $325,875 from 79 contributions

Amount reported for 24 hours ending Tuesday: $4,375 from two contributions

* Lively, Ackerman and Cody -- “a partnership of Christian attorneys,” according to partner Scott Lively -- contributed $2,375.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Total reported: $3,212,600 from 96 contributions

Amount reported for 24 hours ending Tuesday: $124,300 from 23 contributions

* Schwarzenegger’s mother-in-law, Eunice Shriver, gave $15,000. A San Diego construction firm, Douglas E. Barnhart Inc., gave $21,200. Kirk Roller and Paul Folino, executives at Emulex, a networking technology firm, contributed $26,200.

Peter V. Ueberroth

Total reported: $2,417,535 from 130 contributions

Amount reported for 24 hours ending Friday: $59,700 from 12 contributions

* Parker S. Kennedy, an executive at a real estate insurance company, contributed $21,200. Herbert A. Allen, a New York City investment banker, added $5,000.

*Contributions to candidates from each outside source are limited to $21,200. There is no cap on the amount candidates can give their own campaigns.

Reported by Times staff writer Joel Rubin and Times researcher Maloy Moore. Source: Campaign reports filed with the California secretary of state

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

AD WATCH

Tom McClintock

Tom McClintock, the Republican state senator from Thousand Oaks, debuted a 60-second television spot called ‘Golden State’ Tuesday. It is aimed at moderates and conservatives of both parties who want a ‘New Deal’ for California. Strapped by limited finances, the McClintock campaign plans to spend $250,000 on a statewide radio and TV buy, with the television starting in Fresno and Bakersfield and reinforced statewide next week.

Producer: John Feliz, Coyote Productions and Chriswell Productions

The Script: Announcer: ‘California used to be the Golden State. Taxes were low. Jobs were plentiful. Tom McClintock was there...’ McClintock: ‘I lived in that state once. I remember that state. You remember that state. It was real.’ Announcer: ‘Now California stands at a turning point.’ McClintock: ‘Don’t you think that we ought to go and get that state back?’ Announcer: ‘We must have a governor who knows every inch of this government and who stands willing to challenge the spending lobby that controls it.’ McClintock: ‘It means bringing our electricity prices back down under control, cutting our workers’ compensation costs by two-thirds and rescinding the tripling of our car tax.’ Announcer: ‘A governor willing to make the tough decisions...’ McClintock: ‘This can be the moment when we roll back the taxes and the regulations that are destroying our economy, that we restore California’s public works.’ Announcer: ‘...To return to our children the Golden State that our parents gave to us.’ McClintock: ‘Folks, we can do this...’ Announcer: ‘A governor named Tom McClintock.’ McClintock: ‘Paid for by McClintock for Governor.’

Pictures: An opening shot of a California flag leads to McClintock in blue jacket and tie addressing an enthusiastically cheering crowd at a Republican picnic two weeks ago. Clips of alluring scenes such as a golden field of wheat and snippets of freeway traffic, power plants and newspaper headlines on the problems of the day are interspersed with McClintock at the picnic and working in his office.

Accuracy: Although the ad says McClintock is willing to make tough choices, it offers only palatable proposals: rolling back taxes and regulations, restoring public works and bringing energy costs under control, referring to a lawsuit McClintock filed in state court, seeking to break the state’s costly energy contracts. The only cost-saving measure it puts forward is cutting workers’ compensation costs, and it doesn’t say how McClintock would balance the budget.

Analysis: The gravelly voiced announcer strikes a folksy note harking back to a better time in the indeterminate past. The candidate’s oratorical flights, in call-and-response style, seem to shine a light toward a brighter future. His speech has a theatrical style reminiscent of a Kennedy speech. The goal, producer John Feliz said, is to persuade Democrats who think fondly back to the era of Democratic Gov. Pat Brown that McClintock’s values are their own.

Reported by Doug Smith