Cash and the campaign

Dave Brooks

It’s a small-town race that demands big money to win.

As 16 candidates gear up for a battle over three City Council

seats, they have a major decision to make: How much do they need to

spend to win?

Only half of the contenders have paid a $2,200 fee to publish

their names and candidate statements on sample ballots, which are

mailed to all registered voters in the city. In the past 20 years, no

City Council candidate has won without securing a spot on the sample

ballot.

The printing and mailing fees, representing as much as 20% of some

past candidate’s budgets, is typically the first major expense of the

political season. It has traditionally separated serious candidates

from political novices.

Appearing on this year’s sample ballot will be incumbent Debbie

Cook, realtor Keith Bohr, environmentalist Joey Racano, restaurateur

Joe Carchio, finance executive Don Hansen, retiree Jim Moreno, draft

designer Peter Albini and Planning Commissioner Steve Ray.

“A lot of times, that can prove to be the crucial piece,”

Councilman Dave Sullivan said. “Being on the sample ballot shows that

you’re really serious about your campaign.”

But the sample ballot fee only represents a small portion of what

candidates will spend to try to win a seat on the dais. Most of the

candidates who paid the $2,200 fee to get their name on the sample

ballot said they thought they needed about $25,000 to $30,000 to run

a successful campaign, including Cook, who already has $2,020 in her

war chest.

“I think there’s a possibility that if I didn’t spend any money at

all, I could still get reelected,” she said. “A lot of it’s based on

whether you’re qualified and electable and how well you’re known in

the community.”

If a candidate is not well-known, the money is often spent to

increase name recognition, through the posting of signs and direct

mailings to voters, which Sullivan estimates cost about $12,000 a

run.

“It seems like the way you get your message out is though

literature,” Sullivan said.

To save money, candidates sometime use targeted mailings that are

only sent to undecided voters, or households with two or more voters.

Candidates can also pay to be on slate mailers, leaflets created by

civic advocacy groups that will mail out endorsements of candidates

for the right price.

There’s no limit to how much you can spend on mailings. In 2002,

Cathy Green spent nearly $30,000 in the final weeks of her campaign

on mailings.

She spent a total of $58,948 on her successful campaign, including

$20,000 out of her own pocket, making her the biggest spender of the

four candidates who won seats in that race. She also brought in the

most votes.

Of course spending the most money doesn’t guarantee you a spot on

the council. In 2002, Bohr dropped nearly $67,500 on his bid for the

council, including $20,000 out of his own pocket. Despite spending

nearly $40,000 on mailings and $11,000 on polling firms, campaign

consultants and part-time employees, Bohr still came up just 190

votes short of winning a seat.

This year Bohr said he plans to raise about $50,000, mostly

through letter-writing campaigns and traditional fundraising. Surf

City’s campaign finance law limits individual donations to just $300

a piece, although it contains no specific ban on soft money, which is

donations or advertisements made on a candidates behalf by an

independent third party. Each year several city unions including

those that represent the police and fire departments pay for

political mailings for the candidates they choose to endorse,

allowing them to avoid the contribution cap.

Even with the soft money contributions and the personal spending

limits, Bohr said it’s increasingly difficult to raise funds for a

run for office.

“Not only is it difficult to find a lot of people that are

interested in a local race,” he said, “It’s difficult to find someone

that will actually write out a check.”

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.