Campbell, Cristich lead packs in funding

Alicia Robinson

How much it costs to run for elected office in Orange County depends

on whom you ask.

In the Republican primary race for the 35th Senate district seat,

the front runner in terms of fundraising is 70th District Assemblyman

John Campbell. In a campaign finance report filed in October,

Campbell reported a cash balance of $624,364.

That’s more than twice as much as the $286,171 his opponent, 68th

District Assemblyman Ken Maddox, listed as his balance.

The reports covered the period from July 1 to Sept. 30. Campbell

said this week that since the report was filed, his total has

surpassed $800,000 and his goal for the campaign is “considerably

higher than that.”

He said he expects to wind up his fundraising with $1.25 to $1.5

million.

Although Maddox’s goal of $400,000 is much lower, he said he’s not

worried by Campbell’s campaign coffers.

Rather than relying on fundraising, Maddox said, he’s building his

campaign on local endorsements from the 35th Senate district and his

record as a legislator over the past five years.

“I think I will be incredibly competitive at [$400,000] in getting

my message out,” Maddox said. “I’ve always run very lean campaigns.”

Of the six Republican candidates seeking the 70th District

Assembly seat, Corona del Mar businesswoman Cristi Cristich had the

most cash as of October when the reports were filed.

Cristich reported a cash total of $207,070, of which $34,088 was

raised during the reporting period of July 1 to Sept. 30.

Chuck DeVore was close behind with $203,133 in his war chest. He

raised $126,772 of the total between July and September.

Donald P. Wagner followed DeVore, ending the reporting period with

a cash total of $96,270. Of that total, $32,735 was raised in the

reporting period.

Newport Beach resident Marianne Zippi reported an ending cash

balance of $64,200 and contributions of $3,559 for the reporting

period.

Two of the six candidates, Long Pham and Chonchol Gupta, did not

file campaign finance reports with the Orange County Registrar of

Voters. March primary candidates who raise or spend less than $1,000

are not required to file a report until Jan. 22.

Both Zippi and Wagner missed the Oct. 10 deadline to file their

reports. Zippi said hers was filed on Oct. 17 because “the dates got

away from us.” Wagner said he filed his report Nov. 12 because of “a change in campaign treasurers.”

Zippi downplayed the importance of money to her campaign. She said

she’s hoping to raise another $10,000 to $20,000 before the March 2

primary but that she’s running a grass-roots campaign that depends on

volunteers rather than cash.

“I have enough money right now to do everything that I have

planned because of the amount of volunteers that I have,” she said.

Wagner said the recall was absorbing most voters’ attention in the

past few weeks, but now that it’s over, he’ll shift his campaign into

a higher gear. He plans to raise a total of $250,000.

He said he’s the only one of the candidates who has held elected

office and thus may be better known to the public.

Wagner doesn’t expect a bigger war chest than Cristich, he said,

“because she can self-fund. ... I hope to not have to match [DeVore]

in fundraising, but I’m certainly going to try.”

DeVore said his fundraising goal is $400,000. He’s counting on the

endorsements he’s received from local elected officials to give him

an edge over Cristich, whom he said is his main opponent.

“She’s probably going to have to spend a lot of money to get her

word out,” he said. “I’m comfortable if she outspends me two to one.”

If Cristich achieves her goal -- close to $1 million -- she’ll be

the top fundraiser in the 70th Assembly District campaign.

She said she didn’t raise much money in the last reporting period

because she suspended her own fundraising for three months to support

the recall election and support Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor.

Cristich added that she has no concerns about raising enough

money.

“I know that I will fully fund the budget for my campaign,” she

said.

However, she’s also focusing on getting out and meeting with

voters, she said.

“The campaign is really won in the living rooms of people’s

homes,” she said. “We’re not just relying on a bunch of money.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She can be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.