SACRAMENTO -- Democrat Fran Florez and Republican Danny Gilmore are battling for control of one of the poorest Assembly districts in the state.
The 30th District -- covering Kings County and parts of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties -- includes Alpaugh, with a median income of $23,688, Wasco at $28,997, and Delano at $28,143.
Yet the two candidates are still raking in campaign cash, much of it from outside the district.
Gilmore, a retired highway patrol officer from Hanford, as of midweek had raised a little more than $1 million. Recent contributions include $591,000 from the California Republican Party, $3,000 from ExxonMobil, $1,000 from Chevron and $1,500 from Dow Chemical.
Florez, a Shafter City Council member, has raised $757,220. The Democratic Central Committee of California recently wrote her campaign a $250,000 check. The "Consumer Attorneys" political action committee chipped in $1,000.
She also got $1,000 from the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood and $1,000 from the Pacific Racing Association & L.A. Turf Club. Florez's son is state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, who chairs a Senate committee that oversees legislation dealing with gambling.
Dean Florez, who plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2010, also has collected donations from gambling groups. Table Mountain Rancheria in Friant recently contributed $6,000 to his lieutenant governor campaign. The Thoroughbred Owners of California chipped in $6,000. Florez also has collected donations from several card rooms.
Fran Florez and Gilmore have a ways to go to match the $4.17 million that was spent on the 30th District race in 2006, when incumbent Democrat Nicole Parra beat Gilmore. That amount included $1.27 million in "independent expenditures" -- spending from interest groups that cannot be coordinated with the campaign.
This year, Florez is the only one who has benefited from an independent expenditure. The California Faculty Association reported spending $181,666 on anti-Gilmore advertisements.
If history is any indication, more independent expenditures will likely flow into this race before it's decided on Nov. 4.
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