Contributions to California congressional candidates disclosed

Campaign contributions are flowing briskly to candidates in some of California's hottest congressional races, including two of the most vocal proponents of getting money out of politics.

Incumbents in races in the Sacramento area, Central Valley, Bay Area and Riverside and Ventura counties each have raised more than $1 million to fend off vigorous challengers.

And in San Diego County, freshman Democratic Rep. Scott Peters and his main opponent, Republican Carl DeMaio, were nearly neck and neck, with Peters taking in nearly $1.8 million to DeMaio's almost $1.5 million.

Candidates and their operatives were busy scrutinizing their rivals' financial disclosures Wednesday, hours after the midnight Tuesday filing deadline at the Federal Election Commission.

Peters' campaign pounced on a $2,500 contribution to DeMaio from a Koch Industries Inc. political action committee, saying in a fundraising email that it upends DeMaio's claim of being a moderate.

Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch — conservatives who were early backers of the small-government tea party movement in the GOP — have become a favorite target of Democrats in this year's campaign.

"Scott Peters has embraced the hypocrisy and double standards of Washington politics," Dave McCulloch, spokesman for the DeMaio campaign, responded in an email to The Times. "Scott Peters is just desperate to distract voters from the millions in big business and special interest money he has taken."

Peters' campaign spokeswoman MaryAnne Pintar retorted: "The Kochs bankroll the tea party, and they're bankrolling Carl DeMaio because he shares their extremist values."

The race is emerging as one of the nation's most expensive House contests this year. Another sure-to-be-costly race is the one to succeed Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills). His Jan. 30 retirement announcement unleashed a crush of candidates for his coastal-Westside 33rd Congressional District seat.

Former Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, a contestant in that race, reported raising $672,214 — less than the $964,385 collected by no-party-preference candidate Marianne Williamson. The spiritual teacher and bestselling author began raising money when she jumped into the race last fall.

Defense attorney and first-time candidate David Kanuth, a Democrat, also outraised Greuel, reporting $798,453 in contributions by the March 31 end of the accounting period.

But Greuel collected more than other prominent Democrats in the race: state Sen. Ted Lieu of Torrance, who raised $566,762, and author and radio talk show host Matt Miller, who took in $517,822. Businessman James Graf, also a Democrat, reported lending his campaign $1 million but spent little and does not appear to have done much campaigning.

Greuel's strategists picked apart the reports and issued their own detailed spin on the fundraising race, parsing debts and expenditures and calculating how much of each main candidate's take could be spent in the primary.

Because of limits on how much donors can contribute toward a given election, excess funds are set aside for possible use in the fall by any candidate who finishes first or second in the June 3 primary.

Greuel's campaign calculated that her main rivals all had significant amounts that they could not use in the primary, while she had the smallest amount ($10,400) of contributions that must be saved for a fall campaign.

Williamson and Miller both have made overhauling the nation's campaign finance system a central theme of their congressional bids. But both have acknowledged needing to raise money to be viable candidates. Once elected, they say, they can change the laws governing money and politics.

All of Williamson's listed contributions came from individuals, including entertainer Nancy Sinatra, who gave $1,100, and Leslie Sword of Naples, Fla., who gave $2,600 — the maximum allowed. Sword gave her occupation as "joy seeker."

Williamson's contributions ranged from $10 and $50 to the limit, and some donors also gave money that could be used only for a fall campaign.

The vast majority of Miller's contributions also are from individuals. And the day before Tuesday's filing deadline, he released a proposal for revising campaign finance rules. His proposals include barring lawmakers from taking contributions from industries they regulate and strengthening disclosure rules.

Significant campaign finance overhaul has proved to be a tough sell in Congress.

Prodigious fundraising was reported in other races as well. Among the candidates who have collected the most are Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove), with just over $2 million, and Rep. Michael M. Honda (D-San Jose). Honda has raised $1.9 million but faces a challenger from his own party, former Obama administration official Ro Khanna, who took in much more: $3.67 million.

Khanna reported $1.9 million in cash on hand, compared with Honda's slightly more than $1 million.

In an Inland Empire race to succeed Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar and Colton attorney Eloise Gomez Reyes, both Democrats, led in fundraising among the four Democrats and three Republicans who are running.

Aguilar raised $910,730 and had $683,236 in the bank. Reyes collected $710,503 and reported $534,824 in the bank.

Others in hot races who have raised at least $1 million are incumbent Reps. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village).

jean.merl@latimes.com

richard.simon@latimes.com

Merl reported from Los Angeles and Simon from Washington.

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Contributions Piling Up in Race for Mayor

9:15 p.m. | Updated Bill de Blasio, the New York City public advocate, reached a crucial milestone in his bid for mayor on Tuesday when his campaign reported that he had raised all the money he is allowed to spend in the coming primary.

William C. Thompson Jr., a former city comptroller, is on track to hit the maximum soon, according to his campaign, having collected $600,000 in the last two months. That was almost double what he did in the previous fund-raising cycle.

Both still lag behind Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and fellow Democrat, who reported more than a year ago that she had reached the maximum amount for the primary. Ms. Quinn has since raised enough money for a possible runoff and is now soliciting contributions for a general election. During the last two months, for instance, she raised $510,000.

The disclosures were among the highlights of a busy day in New York City’s campaign finance world, as candidates for all offices began releasing preliminary figures regarding their fund-raising efforts in the two months that ended on Saturday. The full reports — including detailed accounts on spending, individual donors and top fund-raisers — must be submitted to the city’s Campaign Finance Board by Wednesday.

Candidates taking part in the city’s voluntary and relatively generous campaign finance program can spend no more than $6.73 million each in the primary, in part from money they raise and in part from matching funds.

In a statement, Mr. de Blasio said his campaign raised $240,000 in the latest period. That includes more than $75,000 in amounts of $175 or less, which, under the city’s $6-to-$1 matching system, would net $450,000 in public money.

“We intend to build on this momentum as we raise resources for the runoff and general election,” his campaign manager, Bill Hyers, said.

For Mr. Thompson, the $600,000 collected was another strong showing after a relatively sluggish start. The bulk of that money came in the last couple of weeks, after Mr. Thompson hired some new staff members and unveiled a string of notable endorsements, including from Merryl H. Tisch, the chancellor of the State Board of Regents, who became his campaign chairwoman, and Richard Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor.

“The campaign is kicking into high gear at the appropriate time,” Mr. Thompson’s chief strategist, Jonathan Prince, said in a conference call with reporters. “We expect to max out. We will certainly have all the money we need.”

The Democratic field also includes the city comptroller, John C. Liu, who reported raising $104,000 while spending $225,000.

Mr. Liu’s campaign said that his collections, too, had reached the spending cap and that he was now eligible for matching funds. But many campaign finance experts doubt he will receive them, because two of his associates, including his former campaign treasurer, were recently convicted on federal charges related to an illegal campaign finance scheme.

The competition could grow to include a very prominent Democrat: former Representative Anthony D. Weiner. He has almost raised the maximum amount he could spend in a primary.

On the Republican side, much of the attention was focused on Joseph J. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose campaign said he had raised $558,000. He had collected $730,000 in the first filing for his candidacy, in March.

Adolfo Carrión Jr., a former Bronx borough president and former Democrat who is running on the Independence Party line, divulged disappointing figures. He collected only $18,000 and said in a statement that his fund-raising “demonstrates just how many donors still view our politics as a two-party proposition and the concern some have about the political consequences of giving to an independent campaign at this time.”

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: May 14, 2013

The headline with an earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of a mayoral candidate. He is Joseph J. Lhota, not Lhoto.

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