Candidates narrow funding gap

Alicia Robinson

Two Republican candidates for the 70th District the Assembly seat

said they’re closing the gap between themselves and the financial

front runners in their races.

Chuck DeVore, one of six GOP candidates for the 70th District

Assembly seat, reported contributions of $117,000 between Jan. 1 and

Jan. 17, bringing his total to nearly $296,000.

Another 70th District candidate, Cristi Cristich, who led the pack

in 2003 fundraising, reported contributions of $5,000 for the same

period, bringing her cash total to $298,000.

“Now we have what I would consider cash parity,” Devore said.

In the same race, Don Wagner reported new contributions of $2,000

and expenditures of close to $39,000. His cash balance as of Jan. 17

was almost $44,000.

Thursday was the deadline for candidates to file their first

pre-primary election campaign finance reports.

In the 35th District state Senate race, fundraising efforts gave a

boost to 68th District Assemblyman Ken Maddox, who raised more than

twice as much as his opponent, 70th District Assemblyman John

Campbell, during the reporting period.

Maddox brought in nearly $13,000 between Jan. 1 and 17, compared

with Campbell’s contributions of $5,000. While Maddox’s $260,000 cash

on hand wasn’t enough to pull even with Campbell’s total of almost

$420,000, Maddox remained positive about his additional funds.

“He’s clearly losing momentum,” he said of his opponent.

Some candidates stepped up their campaign spending in January,

launching major direct mail campaigns, putting up signs and in some

cases running TV ads.

Cristich reported spending close to $133,000 during the reporting

period, more than half of which went to campaign mailings and

literature. Cristich campaign strategist Dave Gilliard said a TV ad

will air soon.

“The districts in Orange County are all mail-dominated districts

just because you’re in the Los Angeles media market,” Gilliard said.

Campbell spent $67,000 on his campaign in the period covered by

the latest report, and previous reports showed he devoted more than

$89,000 to mailing and literature in December. His campaign has sent

out five pieces of mail to voters so far, and he shot a TV

commercial, which is ready to air, he said.

“We will maintain an extremely active campaign all the way up to

March 2,” Campbell said.

The latest campaign finance reports were not available for 35th

District state Senate candidate Joe Snyder and 70th District Assembly

candidates Chonchol Gupta, Long Pham and Marianne Zippi.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

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

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.