Long Winning Cash Flow War Against Morgan

Ventura County supervisorial candidate Kathy Long raised more money in the last three months than her opponent Mike Morgan has collected in the entire campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.

In state legislative races, incumbent Republican candidates have vastly outpaced their Democratic challengers by bringing in fat checks to bolster their reelection campaigns.

And in the battle for two seats on the county Board of Education, two candidates with conservative Christian ties hold early fund-raising leads over their opponents.

In the county supervisor’s race, Long, a top aide to retiring Supervisor Maggie Kildee, raised $33,901 between July 1 and Sept. 30, bringing her total contributions to $85,630, according to reports filed with the county registrar. She has $23,774 left over for the remaining weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

Long’s campaign received its single biggest boost from a fund-raiser held in August by actor and Ojai resident Larry Hagman. After expenses, Long collected roughly $10,000 from the event at the celebrity’s mountaintop mansion.

But Long said she was also pleased to see money coming in from the agricultural communities of the Santa Clara Valley, where voters are expected to play a major role in the outcome of the election. She received about $2,700 from constituents in the region.

“I’m very pleased,” Long said. “I feel very strong. I’m capturing support that I didn’t have in the primary.”

For his part, Morgan, a veteran Camarillo councilman, took in $10,784 during the last reporting period, including $3,350 that he loaned his own campaign. To date, Morgan has raised a total of $33,295.

The vast majority of Morgan’s support during the last reporting period came in the form of $100 and $250 contributions from residents and business owners in Camarillo, the largest voter base in the district.

Morgan stressed that unlike Long, who has received support from some union organizations and developers, he has tried to avoid special interest money in most instances. He has accepted a $350 contribution from the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Assn.

“One of the goals of our campaign is to show that the race can be won on merit rather than money,” Morgan said. “So when I go to vote on something, I will vote my conscience.”

Morgan and Long are competing in the sprawling 3rd Supervisorial District, which includes Ojai, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Camarillo and portions of Thousand Oaks.

In one county school board race, incumbent Wendy Larner, a member of the board’s conservative Christian majority, reported raising $9,423 during the last reporting period, with $6,289 cash on hand for the final weeks of the campaign.

Her opponent, Janet Lindgren, a Camarillo resident and a former Oxnard Union High School board member, has raised a total of $8,739. But after all of her bills were paid, Lindgren had only $228 left over.

In the race for an open seat on the county school board, Ronald Matthews reported a single $1,000 contribution from Citizens for the Preservation of Ventura County, a conservative Christian political action committee. His opponent, Paul Chatman, on the other hand, has yet to raise any money.

“They’re definitely going to outspend me,” Chatman said of Matthew’s conservative supporters. “But I will outmaneuver them. I think the public understands that they have to protect their schools. That’s the bottom line.”

In state races, Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard) has raised $185,000 toward his reelection campaign and listed $104,800 in cash ready to be spent before election day in the 37th Assembly District, which stretches from Port Hueneme to Thousand Oaks.

That compares to about $25,000 in total donations to his Democratic challenger, Jess Herrera, who reported about $12,000 left in cash.

“The monetary support is not really there,” said Herrera, an Oxnard Harbor commissioner and longshoreman. “But my supporters are coming on strong because they know my campaign is viable. Things are on the move.”

Campaign finance reports showed that state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) had raised $154,946 to finance her last legislative campaign, with $68,793 remaining in cash for the final days.

Her Democratic opponent, John Birke, said his report will show he has raised about $1,800 and has only a few hundred dollars left.

“You don’t need a lot of money for a guerrilla campaign,” Birke said. “I’ve raised enough to put together my campaign literature and keep our volunteers on the streets.”

In the 38th Assembly District, former lawmaker Tom McClintock is seeking a comeback. He reported $41,437 in cash for his final campaign push, compared to $4,431 for Democratic rival Jon H. Lauritzen.

Lauritzen said he hopes to raise considerably more at several upcoming fund-raisers in the district that includes Fillmore, Simi Valley and portions of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

McClintock said he could raise substantially more, should he need it. But he said he is “cautiously optimistic” of victory in the Republican-leaning district.

“I will spent just enough to communicate my message to the constituents--not a penny more,” he said.

In the 35th Assembly District, Assemblyman Brooks Firestone switched from collecting large donations to smaller ones. He pieced together $44,417 in cash, consisting mostly of $25 contributions from 1,400 supporters.

He is being challenged by UC Santa Barbara student Aneesh Lele, who reported raising $6,241, with about $1,000 left as of Sept. 30.

Lele said he hopes to raise another $10,000 so he can send off a mass campaign mailing. Although short on dollars, Lele said he is long on volunteers in the district that includes Ventura, Santa Paula, Ojai and most of Santa Barbara County.

“I’m really excited,” Lele said, “about the student enthusiasm for this campaign.