SACRAMENTO — An Indian tribe with a major casino spent $18,000 to help Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock's bid to become governor, a campaign finance report filed Wednesday shows.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which helped finance independent campaigns aimed at defeating Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa in his council race and in his run for mayor, spent $18,000 on focus groups related to McClintock's candidacy.
Another tribe recently donated $21,200 directly to McClintock's campaign for governor.
In a recent gathering of tribes with gambling operations, McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) described them as "islands of freedom" and said state law should end at their reservation boundaries.
Some political experts believe that McClintock cannot win the race to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he is recalled but that tribes might spend money on his behalf in an effort to undermine Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger and help Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat who, like McClintock, long has backed tribes' right to govern their own affairs.
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Schwarzenegger, Shriver to Appear on 'Oprah'
Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, will appear on Oprah Winfrey's season premiere Monday.
Winfrey, who met Shriver when both worked on television in Baltimore earlier in their careers, has been a friend of the couple for more than two decades.
The appearance comes as Schwarzenegger has come under fire for past remarks and accusations of boorish behavior toward women.
The national talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," reaches about 1 million viewers in California, a spokeswoman for the program said. About 86% of them are women.
Asked whether the couple would discuss their personal relationship, a Schwarzenegger campaign official said: "I don't think it's going to sound like 'MacNeil-Lehrer,' " referring to a classic news program on public television.
The campaign spokesman said that Schwarzenegger also intends to appear soon on Howard Stern's radio program, but that no date has been set.
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission granted Stern a news exemption from equal time provisions that might have required appearances by other candidates.
Winfrey already has such a waiver.
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Camejo Says Davis Got 'California' Wrong Too
Green Party candidate Peter Camejo was perplexed by all the fuss over Gov. Gary Davis' recent remark that Schwarzenegger mispronounces "California."
