Superior Court Candidate Reports Spending Over $200,000 on Campaign as Runoff Election Nears

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

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Superior Court Candidate Reports Spending Over $200,000 on Campaign as Runoff Election Nears

By Kenneth Ofgang, Staff Writer

The eight candidates seeking judicial offices in next month’s general election have spent more than $850,000 on their campaigns, with one candidate topping the $200,000 mark, records show.

Deputy District Attorney Hayden Zacky, running to succeed Judge Marion Johnson—who retired yesterday—reported raising $208,528 and spending $191,694.25 through Sept. 30. Final pre-election campaign reports are due a week from Thursday and cover all contributions and expenditures through the end of this week.

Funds spent or received after this week need not be reported until next year, except that any individual donation of $1,000 or more before election day must be reported within 24 hours.

Zacky’s opponent, attorney George Montgomery, reported contributions of $137,000 and expenditures of $135,000. Zacky received 48.13 percent of the primary vote, compared to 31.66 percent for Montgomery and 20.22 for Deputy Public Defender C. Edward Mack.

The primary funding source for Zacky is his family, which loaned him $150,000, or over 70 percent of his funds. The remainder was largely raised in contributions of $1,000 or less.

Donors since the primary include the political action committees of the Los Angeles Police Protective League—a $1,000 donor—and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which gave $500; Association of Deputy District Attorneys President Steven Ipsen, who gave $150; and four Superior Court judges—Michael Johnson, who gave $150, and Terry Green, Darlene Schempp, and Thomas White, who gave $100 each.

Montgomery’s campaign is entirely self-financed.

In other contests:

•Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Janis L. Barquist reported raising $151,744 and spending $146,322.23 in her bid to succeed retired Judge Paula Mabrey. Most of her funds, a total of $110,000, were loaned to the campaign by Barquist and her husband, Morrison & Foerster partner Charles Barquist.

Her contributors since the primary included two Democratic clubs, which gave a total of $300; City Controller Laura Chick, who gave $250 from her officeholder account; the law firm of Girardi & Keese, which donated $4,000; Superior Court Judge Donna Groman, who gave $200; the law firm of Hamar & Hamar—partner Maria Hamar was one of Barquist’s primary opponents, finishing third—which gave $100; and Superior Court Judge Marjorie Steinberg, a $100 donor.

Barquist’s opponent, Deputy District Attorney David Stuart, reported raising $88,643.92 and spending $127,465.11, leaving the campaign with a deficit of nearly $39,000, most of it owed to slate mail vendors.

Stuart has loaned his campaign over $77,000; his donors include the correctional officers PAC, which has given him $2,500 since the primary and $3,500 in total; District Attorney Steve Cooley, who gave $100 from his officeholder account; and Superior Court Judges Gregg Marcus and Morton Rochman, who gave $100 each.

Stuart topped the primary field with 26.96 percent of the vote, compared to 20.98 percent for Barquist and 16.14 percent for Hamar. Four other candidates split the rest.

•Deputy District Attorney Daviann Mitchell reported raising $157,609.89 and spending $155,718.24 on her campaign for the seat from which Judge Michael Knight retired in February.

Mitchell has financed her campaign in part with loans of $90,000 from M.A.R.A., Inc. of Santa Clarita—of which $40,000 has been repaid—and $54,000 from herself, of which $39,000 has been repaid.

Her donors include Bad Boys Bail Bonds of San Jose, which has given $1,000, half of it since the primary; Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, who has given $1,000 from his campaign account; Ipsen, who has given $150; the Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs State PAC, a Republican group which has donated $2,000; former District Attorney Robert Philibosian, who has given $250; and Superior Court Commissioner Ronald Rose, a $400 donor.

Mitchell’s opponent, John C. Gutierrez, who recently retird as a workers’ compensation judge, reported spending $65,836.51 and spending $86,827.34, a deficit of more than $20,000, mostly owed to slate vendors. Gutierrez has loaned the campaign $27,500; his major donor is Dr. Robere Missirian, an orthopedic surgeon who has given $5,000.

Mitchell gained 36.39 percent in the primary to Gutierrez’s 28.94 percent, the rest being divided among four candidates.

•Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Deborah Sanchez has raised $35,622.21 and spent $41,536.59, leaving her with a deficit of more than $5,000 in her contest with Deputy Attorney General Bob Henry to succeed retired Judge Charles Rubin.

Henry reported raising $20,973.67 and spending $23,090, so he has a deficit of nearly $3,000.

Vote totals in the primary were 39.14 percent for Sanchez, 30.64 percent for Henry, and 30.22 percent for Superior Court Commissioner Alan Friedenthal.