Wednesday, August 3, 2005
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Former Governor Leads City Attorney in Fundraising In Contest for Democratic Nomination for A.G
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Former Gov. Jerry Brown leads Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo in fundraising for their contest for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general, campaign records show.
Reports filed with the secretary of state and available online show that Brown, now the mayor of Oakland, raised $1.114 million and spent just under $179,000 in the first six months of this year, leaving him with more than $2.381 million on hand.
Delgadillo reported raising $1.484 million and spending $176,000 in the same period, leaving $1.319 million on hand.
The Delgadillo campaign put a positive face on the news, noting that they outraised Brown during the period.
“This is just the beginning, but I am pleased that Californians are demonstrating their faith in our campaign so early in the process,” Delgadillo said in a statement. “There is no doubt in my mind that we will have the backing and the resources needed to win this race.”
Delgadillo spokesman Roger Salazar said the city attorney “opened his committee in late March, meaning he was able to generate more support during the last three months of the reporting period than Brown managed the entire reporting period.”
Brown, however, noted that Delgadillo had an unopposed race for city attorney this year and had a fundraising team in place.
The issues in the race, which pits one of the state’s best-known political figures against “The New Latino Democratic Star,” as National Journal’s Hotline called Delgadillo—before Antonio Villaragoisa was elected mayor—will include the state’s business environment, the economy, consumer protection, and how to provide the state’s youth with “the best possible education,” Salazar said.
The winner of the primary will likely face Sen. Charles Poochigian, R-Fresno, who has drawn no opposition in his party. Poochigian reported raising $1.167 million from January through June, with expenditures of $335,000 and more than $2 million still in the bank.
Brown, who once ran a presidential campaign in which he limited contributions to $100 and campaigned as an enemy of big-money influence on public policy, said he was proud of the current campaign’s fundraising because it frees him to talk about issues.
“If there was no money in the bank you’d be writing ‘This guy’s a has been,’” the former governor told the MetNews.
He said he would campaign to be “the leader of the fight on crime, the fight on terrorism, and the fight on the environment,” drawing on his leadership “as a tough mayor in Oakland [who has] dealt with urban terrorism.”
Brown noted that he had, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and all of the state’s living former governors, opposed Proposition 66, the proposed reform of the Three Strikes Law.
He did so, he said, because he believed the measure was “seriously flawed,” even though it was riding high in the polls at the time.
“My opponent was AWOL on that issue as he has been on so many,” Brown said. “A leader has to be willing to take stands.”
Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company