Backers of Ads Skirt Rules on Disclosure

An official with the New Majority, a Southern California Republican group at the core of Schwarzenegger's fundraising apparatus, said its members have given about $1 million to the Washington, D.C., business group that is the public face of the ads: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

By pumping the ad money through the chamber, well-heeled New Majority members have bypassed requirements that their donations be publicly disclosed. And they skirted the strict contribution limits -- $22,300 each for the June 6 primary and again for the November general election -- that would apply if they had donated directly to Schwarzenegger.

The chamber, which has put out the commercials in what it calls an "independent issue advocacy program," is not required to report where the funding comes from or adhere to donation limits.

Disclosure would be required after April 22, within 45 days of the primary. The ads stopped running late last week, and it is unclear whether more are planned.

The latest spot that ran statewide featured reminders of Gray Davis' governorship and the exhortation "Remember?," coupled with upbeat images of Schwarzenegger.

Chamber officials would not say how much the ads cost. But Andy Gharakhani, executive director of the New Majority's Los Angeles chapter, characterized the group's contribution as "significant."

The New Majority includes wealthy businesspeople, Schwarzenegger campaign aides and gubernatorial appointees.

The group's membership director is Renee Croce, who is also finance director of one of Schwarzenegger's main fundraising committees. She works out of a Santa Monica building that Schwarzenegger owns and where he keeps an office.

Croce's office referred calls to the governor's campaign staff, which declined to comment publicly.

In membership materials obtained by The Times, the New Majority, which supports centrist Republicans, says its top political goal this year is Schwarzenegger's reelection.

The group's promotional literature quotes Schwarzenegger as saying, "I can always count on the New Majority

Government watchdog groups denounced the chamber ads, depicting them as a ploy for concealing who is behind them and for flouting the will of voters, who approved fundraising caps in 2000 under Proposition 34.