SACRAMENTO — In 74 of 100 legislative races on the November ballot, candidates face no real competition: Not one of their opponents has collected even $1,000 and some face no opposition at all.
Yet these 74 candidates between July and October together raised $8.5 million from corporations, unions, industry groups and others with a stake in how state laws are written. These candidates don't need to work for reelection -- voters of their own parties dominate their districts by such wide margins that their seats are safe -- but they continue to attract or solicit donations.
Such donations trouble government watchdogs, who say they are made to win the goodwill of soon-to-be lawmakers.
"Why would anybody give a campaign contribution to somebody who has no opposition?" asked Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group in Los Angeles. "There's one reason. It's not a campaign contribution; it's a government-access payment."
Spokespersons for interest groups say they donate for more reasons than to help elect candidates they favor. Lawmakers use the money to pay for meals, hotels and travel, to send Christmas cards and myriad other "officeholder expenses." And many lawmakers still buy yard signs, billboards and fliers, even though they face little competition, to make themselves familiar to voters.
"Almost everybody out there is looking to run for another office," said Jack Flanigan, a longtime Capitol lobbyist, "and they're looking for name ID."
The donations reveal more than who is trying to influence the Legislature.
Fund-raising has become the main criterion by which lawmakers are judged by their leaders in this era of term limits, in which lawmakers have just a few years to make a mark before they must find new jobs. Candidates strut their ambition through how much they've raised and how much they've given to help the party cause.
"Your ability to raise money determines your status on the food chain," said Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg). Because of term limits, he will leave the Assembly next month after six years. "It determines your committee assignment, your chairmanship, your status among other members."
Of the $8.5 million raised between July 1 and Oct. 25 by candidates coasting to victory, $2 million was raised by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles). No Republican is running against him and he has done little campaigning in his downtown district, but as speaker, he is expected to financially back the few Democrats facing competition.
