Democrats Tap National Coffers to Help Assembly Candidates

SACRAMENTO —  In the battle for control of the state Assembly, majority Republicans continued to haul in the most dollars to finance the finales to hard-fought campaigns.

But Democrats came up with a wrinkle of their own to help narrow the gap in the last mad scramble for dollars before Tuesday’s election.

During the weekend, money for Democratic candidates in state races began arriving from national Democratic coffers, according to late campaign finance reports coming in to the California secretary of state’s office.

Several Assembly candidates were among recipients of contributions from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of Washington, normally a source of funds for Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.

With campaigns still reporting to the secretary of state as the office doors were closing to the public Saturday, records on file showed that the nationally sourced Democratic funds apparently were being distributed--indirectly--where they were needed most.

For example, Assemblywoman Sheila J. Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), who is expected to be reelected easily, received at least one contribution of $55,000 from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee late last week, records showed.

The same filing document showed that she then made donations to two Democrats who are in uphill Assembly races--$3,800 to Jack Scott, who is attempting to unseat Republican Bill Hoge of Pasadena, and $10,000 to Gerrie Schipske in her race against incumbent Steven T. Kuykendall (R-Rancho Palos Verdes).

The filing also recorded that Kuehl gave $41,000 to the state Democratic Party, which was strategically investing money and other resources in dozens of tight state races.

At least five other “safe” legislative Democratic incumbents received five-figure checks from the same Washington-based Democratic committee, incomplete records showed.

Michael Galizio, a veteran campaigner for Assembly Democrats, said the contributions represented normal “party building” efforts. Democrats at the national level routinely “work hard on down-ticket races,” he said.

Jeff Flint, who heads Assembly campaign efforts for Republicans, said the Democrats, by using various means of importing financial help from national sources, could be bending federal campaign finance rules, but “it would be hard to prove an outright violation.”