From San Mateo Daily News
Lobbyists pour $200,000 into Papan mailers
By Shaun Bishop
Fundraising for the state 19th Assembly District race took a new twist in recent days when three statewide lobbyist groups began pouring almost $200,000 for mailings supporting Democratic candidate Gina Papan.
As her opponents blasted the independent contributions, which totaled $199,128.60 as of Thursday, Papan said she hadn't seen them coming.
"This is free speech," said Papan, Millbrae's mayor. "We have no control over it."
With less than a month left until the June 3 primary election, the donations signaled the first influence of independent contributors in a campaign not bound by voluntary spending caps or individual contribution limits. State law says such contributions cannot be made in coordination with a candidate.
The contributions give Papan a significant boost in the money race, which Supervisor Jerry Hill had so far led. Hill ended the latest reporting period on March 24 with $346,000 in the bank; Richard Holober, $317,000; and Papan, $200,000.
The spending on Papan's mailers came mostly from two groups representing the health care industry, $82,600 from the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. and $102,300 from Californians Allied for Patient Protection.
Cooperative of American Physicians provides medical malpractice coverage for 10,000 physicians statewide; Californians Allied for Patient Protection represents doctors, hospitals, clinics and medical malpractice insurance companies. A third group, the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, contributed about $13,000.
The mailers drew fire from the two other Democrats vying to replace Gene Mullin in the heavily Democratic district.
Holober, president of the San Mateo County Community College District's board, slammed the health care industry's backing of the mailers, saying the insurance industry "virtually without exception fights to the death to defeat consumer protections."
Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection, said her group included a variety of health care sectors, not just insurance companies. Representatives of the groups denied they coordinated with Papan on the mailers.
Independent expenditures have become increasingly common since passage of Proposition 34, the 2000 measure that established new limits on individual contributions and voluntary spending, said Terry Christensen, a professor of political science at San Jose State University.
"It's the dirty little secret of campaign finance reform," Christensen said.
"Independent expenditures aren't controllable, so interest groups just ship their money over that way." |
