More money, more money

One of the House of Representative’s perennially poorest members

doesn’t seem to be pulling in much extra cash lately.

According to the July 15 quarterly campaign finance reports just

released, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is sitting on $87,500, having raised

$243,600 this election cycle, including $23,100 since April.

In the world of multimillion-dollar campaigns, it might not seem

like much. But the good news for Huntington’s surfing congressman is

that his challenger, nurse Gerrie Schipske, has just $585 in her

coffers, having raised $111,700 this election -- with $1,000

donations each from the committees of Democratic Reps. Loretta

Sanchez and Nancy Pelosi -- while essentially spending it all at the

same time.

Of course Schipske, who barely lost to Rep. Steve Horn in the 2000

election for a district that’s been carved away, has had to spend

money to get her name out in the Orange County parts of Rohrabacher’s

district (which, as part of the census-driven redistricting, now

includes Horn’s center in Long Beach).

That need is clearly evident when comparing her spending to her

opponent’s. While Rohrabacher has followed the incumbent playbook by

spending $168,400 on such expenses as payroll taxes and salaries (his

wife, Rhonda, makes about $2,300 a month), as well as hiring

different consultants, Schipske shows a lot of barebones spending at

office supply stores, design companies (for mailers and other

literature) and printing outfits. She’s put together bumper stickers

and tons of literature (she spent more than $7,000 on postage, alone,

in the past four months) and been -- or had people -- on the phone,

having spent a few hundred dollars since April for “phone bank

lists.”

Essentially, Schipske’s spending shows more specifics on how a

campaign is run than Rohrabacher’s, since he is able to pay other

people to do much of that work for him.

It may be worth noting that since April, she actually has

out-raised Rohrabacher by $4,000. Not much, but it’s something.

In our other congressional race, the picture is slightly less

complete. While Rep. Chris Cox’s report is available, at this point

the report from his Democratic opponent, UC Irvine business professor

John Graham, is still being processed.

But Cox looks to be in good shape financially. He’s got a hair

less than $450,000 on hand, having raised $472,000 this election

while spending $188,000.

He also, judging by the report, doesn’t appear too worried about

the fall election.

While he’s spent $13,600 to run his campaign since April, he’s

passed on a whopping $321,000, mostly as a $250,000 lump sum to the

National Republican Congressional Committee, as well as in $1,000

chunks to other campaigns in California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa,

North and South Carolina, Florida and New Mexico, among others.

A couple of notable donations: $1,000 to the Orange County

Federation of Republican Women and two $1,000 donations to Talent for

Senate Committee, which is, of course, the high-profile attempt by

Cox’s former colleague, Jim Talent, to unseat Missouri Sen. Jean

Carnahan. Carnahan entered the Senate in the place of her husband,

former Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, who won the seat two years ago

posthumously.

No stop light here

On Monday, Greenlight supporters are planning to announce at least

part of their slate of candidates for the Newport Beach City Council.

Allan Beek is already aboard as a candidate. If three

Greenlight-minded residents win seats, and Councilman John Heffernan

stays aboard, it would seemingly be a very different City Hall come

the end of the year.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at steven.cahn@latimes.com.