Campaigns haul in ag dollars

Valley congressmen benefit from agribusiness.

Published online on Tuesday, May. 27, 2008

WASHINGTON -- San Joaquin Valley congressmen know how to harvest serious cash from the region's agribusiness leaders.

It comes with the territory, so to speak.

While none of the Valley's House members faces a serious challenge, all have been diligently stockpiling their campaign war chests. For all four Valley incumbents, agribusiness remains the leading and most reliable source of funds.

"You don't contribute to get something back," said Tom Nassif, president of Western Growers, a prominent association of California and Arizona farmers. "You contribute because you have a common interest in a subject."

Roughly one out of every four dollars raised by the Valley's House members can be attributed to agribusiness, records compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics show. For instance, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, raised $534,564 from the beginning of 2007 through March 31. Of this, agribusiness accounts for $157,122.

In a similar vein, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, raised $588,813 through March 31. Agribusiness accounts for $182,790. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, raised $755,236 through March 31. Of this, agribusiness accounted for $263,082.

Some of these contributions come from individuals. Members of Modesto's winemaking Gallo family, for instance, have poured out at least $86,000 in federal campaign contributions since January 2005, Federal Election Commission records show. The recipients include Costa and Cardoza.

In other cases, contributions come from political action committees established by groups like the California Poultry Industry Federation.

Of course, none of the Valley members has relied exclusively on farm-related donations. Costa's single-biggest contributor was the McCaffrey Group, a major Fresno home builder, which gave him $13,800. Another local development-oriented firm, ML Street Properties -- which erected Fresno's newest office tower at Kern and M streets -- likewise ranked high, with contributions totaling $6,900.

Tom Richards, managing partner of ML Street Properties, cited Costa's work on many Valley issues.

"Whether it's water or air or transportation, or anything else that's important for the Valley, he's been out in front on it," Richards said.

Many of the contributions simply reflect the nature of these congressional districts: local people giving to local lawmakers. But, as often happens in political fundraising, these contributions can also come from individuals and entities with a vested interest in legislation.

Rep. George Radanovich of Mariposa, for instance, is on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a wide-ranging panel whose jurisdiction extends from the telephone industry to health-care facilities. Radanovich's single-biggest contributor was the phone company AT&T, which contributed $8,500, while the American College of Radiology kicked in an additional $5,000.

Costa and Cardoza both are on the House Agriculture Committee, which recently finished a farm bill with a five-year price tag pegged at about $289 billion. Cardoza played a central role as chairman of the panel's horticulture and organic agriculture subcommittee.

Western Growers has contributed the maximum $10,000 to Cardoza's campaign treasury this election cycle. No other contributor has given Cardoza more this election cycle. The 3,000-member growers group pushed hard for additional specialty-crop spending in the new farm bill, a priority that Cardoza shares.

"He's enormously important to us, and he's always been helpful," Nassif said. "He gets it, he understands the issue, and he represents many of our members."

Cardoza had $306,105 available as of March 31. He does not have a declared major party opponent. Radanovich has a relatively modest $108,047 available, but lacks a Democratic opponent. Costa had $504,079 available.

Costa's declared Republican opponent, decorated Vietnam War veteran James Lopez, has not yet filed any fundraising reports.