Big outside money backs Perea in Fresno mayor's race

Published online on Friday, Oct. 31, 2008

Interest groups have spent at least $300,000 in the last three weeks trying to get Henry T. Perea elected as Fresno mayor, marking a new high in outside investment in a local election, experts say.

With five days until Election Day, labor, business and the Democratic Party are filling the airwaves and mailboxes with messages in support of Perea and critical of his opponent, Ashley Swearengin.

Only the Fresno County Lincoln Club has made an independent expenditure on behalf of Swearengin in the last month, $5,800 on radio advertisements, according to records filed with the city clerk.

Typically, candidates for local office collect money from donors to run a campaign. Interest groups also collect donations to spend on behalf of a candidate, but they're not bound to the city's limit on donations -- $3,600 for an individual, $7,200 for a committee.

Political committees spent at least $301,000 in support of Perea since Oct. 9, records show. That's nearly a third more than Perea's campaign spent over a similar period.

"It's a substantial amount of money and I've never seen that much before," said David Provost, professor emeritus of political science at California State University, Fresno. "The role of money in local politics has grown exponentially."

Swearengin criticizes the spending, including money spent on her behalf.

"We're asking everyone involved in negative independent campaign spending to stop," Swearengin said. "If you look at the amount of money from outside interests, it's preposterous. They're trying to buy the election."

Earlier this week, Perea said he didn't see a problem with the spending, even though he and Swearengin both signed a pledge on Sept. 23 saying they would "immediately and publicly hold a news conference condemning any independent expenditure that attacks my opponent."

Perea, a City Council member, said he didn't consider any of the campaign ads critical of Swearengin and paid for by outside groups as negative.

He addressed negative campaigning Thursday.

"I want to denounce the Lincoln Club ... and discourage all independent expenditures in this race," he said.

Perea said the Lincoln Club ad is negative. The ad says Perea lacks management experience and has ties to labor.

Swearengin's campaign points to two campaign mailers as negative. Both of the mailers say Swearengin "pushed through the largest utility tax increases in Fresno history."

Swearengin sat on a committee that recommended an increase in utility fees. It was approved by the City Council last year, but Perea and Council Member Cynthia Sterling opposed it.

The increase was needed because the council had ignored financial problems in the utility system for years, said David Schecter, Swearengin's campaign manager.

A committee largely funded by labor interests sent the two mailers. Service Employees International Union and other labor groups based in Sacramento have made the biggest contributions to the committee.

The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee also sent out two mailers on Perea's behalf.

The committee sent the mailers, at a cost of $46,000, after receiving $30,000 in donations from Perea's father, Henry R. Perea, a Fresno County supervisor, records show.

Henry R. Perea, who ran unopposed for his seat this year, said the money was left over from his campaign. He said he didn't tell the committee how to spend the money.

"They're messaging people about the campaign, including Henry's [mayoral race] and I don't have a problem with that," he said. "What parent wouldn't want his son to succeed?"

Because of a "huge loophole" in state law, Perea could have legally told the committee how to spend his contribution, said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles and former general counsel for the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

That's because in 2000, Democrats in the Legislature approved an exemption for groups that send political mail as a communication to members, Stern said. A member communication isn't restricted like other campaign material from interest groups.

The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee called the mailers a member communication because they were only sent to registered Democrats, said Larry Johnson, the committee's auditor.

The other spending on Perea's behalf has come from a committee of the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce and another committee with backing from Fresno businessman Sam Reeves.

The two business committees have spent about $65,000 on campaign mail and radio ads in support of Perea in recent weeks.