Newport-Mesa money swings to Arnold

S.J. Cahn

Peter Ueberroth’s withdrawal from the recall election has proven to

be a boon to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fund-raising in the area.

Before he pulled out of the race on Sept. 9, Ueberroth, a Laguna

Beach resident and former baseball commissioner, had raised $356,000

from Newport-Mesa. Up to that point, Schwarzenegger had just a

handful of big-money donations from the area.

Since then, the script reads much differently.

Beginning the day of Ueberroth’s announcement, Schwarzenegger’s

primary campaign committee has raised almost $232,000 from the area,

according to finance data filed Sept. 25.

Included are $21,200 donations from Tim Strader of Starpoint

Ventures; Henry Segerstrom; his wife, Elizabeth Segerstrom; Newport

Beach-based Capital Pacific Holdings; Doug Cavanaugh of Ruby

Restaurant; Duane Roberts of Entrepreneurial Corp. Group; Henry

Samueli; his wife, Susan Samueli; A.G. Kawamura, of Orange County

Produce; and David Conant of Conant Automotive.

Another $21,200 was donated Sept. 8 by Larry Higby of Apria

Healthcare, who is the head of the moderate Republican group the New

Majority, which had just endorsed Schwarzenegger over Ueberroth.

There also are several donations of $4,000, $5,000 and more.

David Padilla, who is helping run Schwarzenegger’s get out the

vote drive in Orange County, said he believes the money for

Schwarzenegger was always there, it was just a matter of the

fund-raising effort to get going.

“Maybe that’s one of the reasons Ueberroth got out,” he said.

“There are always people who wait for a whole number of reasons,”

he added, pointing to Rep. Darrell Issa and one-time candidate Bill

Simon’s recent endorsements of Schwarzenegger as part of the same

phenomenon.

The recall election is a week from today on Oct. 7.

The money flow doesn’t end with the campaign committee.

Schwarzenegger’s “Total Recall” committee, which seeks to replace

Gov. Gray Davis but does not support a specific candidate and

therefore is exempt from contribution limits, has also mined the area

successfully. Folino has given nearly $110,000, and William Lyons

Homes, headed by William Lyon, has given $100,000. Capitol Pacific

Holdings gave $78,800 the day Ueberroth withdrew.

The committee has raised $1.3 million this year.

Schwarzenegger is not the only candidate to be pulling in

contributions from here. State Sen. Tom McClintock, widely considered

the most conservative of the leading candidates, has pulled in

several $21,200 donations of his own.

In total, McClintock has raised $74,000 in Newport-Mesa, much of

it in small amounts of $100.

Even the leading Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante,

has found some support, albeit limited. He has raised $10,800 from

Newport-Mesa, including a $5,000 donation from Andrew Spencer

Properties of Newport Beach.

Also among Bustamante’s supporters is Costa Mesa Planning

Commissioner Katrina Foley, who donated $100 to the campaign earlier

this month.

“I don’t think the recall is the right approach,” Foley said,

adding that she thinks Republicans should be against it, as it could

lead to nearly continuous recalls.

“I don’t think spending $66 million on a recall election is the

way to solve [problems],” she said.

Finally, Davis’ anti-recall group has pulled in a couple of

donations from Newport Beach, one of $25,000 from Robinson, Calcagnie

& Robinson Inc. and one of $500 from the Miller Law Firm.

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

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