SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – As Novembers nears, Democratic incumbents seeking re-election have armed themselves with millions of dollars, while their Republican counterparts continue to fall behind financially.
At the end of the last report session on July 24, Gov. Jerry Brown had $22.3 million remaining in his war chest, campaign finance records show.
From January to the start of July, Brown raised more than $5.6 million in contributions.
His GOP rival, businessman Neel Kashkari, almost kept pace with the California governor, hauling in nearly $4.5 million in the six months prior to July, campaign finance reports show.
However, Kashkari had less than $200,000 cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
In the other state races, Attorney General Kamala Harris has padded her war chest with nearly $3.6 million. From Jan. 1 to June 30, she raked in $999,282.61 in contributions.
Her opponent, Republican attorney Ron Gold, raised less than $30,000 in that same time span, campaign finance records show.
California Controller John Chiang, who is running for treasurer, has more than $2.5 million in his war chest, while Republican candidate, Greg Conlon, has less than $7,000.
As previously reported, Chiang has received several thousand dollars from the Kaye Scholer law firm and its attorneys, which he hired in July 2011 to assist the Controller’s Office with claims relating to unpaid death benefits.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has armed himself with more than $2.3 million cash on hand heading into the final months of the election cycle. As of June 30, Republican candidate Ron Nehring has around $10,000 cash on hand, campaign finance reports show.
In the contest for secretary of state, Democrat Alex Padilla has raised more than $1.6 million since January. Republican Pete Peterson raised a little less than $118,000 in that time span and had around $21,000 remaining in his war chest as of June 30.
Republican Ashley Swearengin, who is paired against Democrat John Perez in the race for state controller, was able to raise more than $500,000 from January to the start of July and had around $133,000 cash on hand.
Nonetheless, Perez doubled her contributions, racking up more than $1 million in that six-month time span.
Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com
GOP candidates face financial disparity in California state elections
