CA: Lawmakers cut ties with Baca-led group (BOLDPAC-Hispanic Building Our Leadership Diversity PAC)

Daily Bulletin ^ | 3/16/06 | Jason Newell

[NormsRevenge]

Six Congressional Hispanic Caucus members have cut their ties with the group's political fundraising arm because of concerns about donations it made to some of the caucus members' relatives, including the sons of Rep. Joe Baca.

In a letter dated March 1, the six lawmakers including Southern California Democrats Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez and Hilda Solis asked to be removed from any materials that imply they are connected with the fundraising committee, the Building Our Leadership Diversity PAC.

"After careful consideration, we have decided to withdraw our involvement from BOLDPAC effective immediately," stated the letter to BOLDPAC's chairman, Baca, D-San Bernardino. "Over the past months, we have grown increasingly concerned about both the manner in which decisions within BOLDPAC have been made and the selection of certain nonfederal candidates to receive contributions."

The political action committee has made recent campaign contributions to several candidates for state and local offices who have family ties to the Hispanic Caucus.

Among them are Baca's sons Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr., a state Senate candidate, and Jeremy Baca, an Assembly candidate. Both sons received $3,300 contributions from BOLDPAC in November, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The committee last month also approved a $3,000 donation to the sister-in-law of Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, who lost a primary election March 7 for the Texas Legislature, reported The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper.

It also approved a donation to the daughter of Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, a candidate for the district clerk of Hidalgo County, the newspaper reported.

Baca on Wednesday said the letter was an example of "reasonable people having a difference of opinions."

While the political action committee's main objective is indeed to get more Latino legislators into Congress, its rules do allow it to give money to candidates for state and local offices, he said.

Those contributions which have been made many times in the past put more Latinos in a position to run for federal office down the road, he said.

"I believe in building a farm team for the future," Baca said. "I believe that's our responsibility."

Several of the lawmakers who signed the letter declined to comment directly or did not return calls, but an aide to one Hispanic Caucus member, who asked not to be identified, said there was a range of concerns about the way Baca has been running the organization.

While some lawmakers didn't want to see money going to any nonfederal candidates, the aide said, others were concerned that the only nonfederal candidates getting money seemed to be related to BOLDPAC members.

"It just got weird," the aide said, adding that while Hispanic Caucus members do want to build a "farm team" of Latino lawmakers at state and local levels, "It looks more like we're just trying to help a family legacy."

One concern is that Baca Jr. is running against another Latino, Assemblywoman Gloria Negrete McLeod, for the state Senate's 32nd District.

If the true mission were to advance Latino candidates, BOLDPAC should have stayed out of that race, they argue.

"If you've got two Hispanic Democrats running against each other in a primary, typically the caucus would stay out of it," another Hispanic Caucus aide said. "That was one of the reasons why some of the members were concerned."

At least a few of the lawmakers who signed the letter are supporting McLeod in the Senate race, McLeod said Wednesday.

Campaign contributions from BOLDPAC are available through an application process. A three-person panel reviews each funding request, then makes its recommendation to BOLDPAC's seven-person board.

None of the six lawmakers who signed the letter who also include Reps. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Raul Grijalva, D-Texas actually has any official connection to BOLDPAC's board.

However, the names of all 21 members of the Hispanic Caucus appear on some of the committee's letters and fundraising materials.

Baca said he would honor the requests of members who wished for their names to be removed from BOLDPAC's materials. Two of the members who signed the letter have since said they regret signing it, he added, but he declined to give their names.

Baca also noted that BOLDPAC had recently formed a committee to look at its operating rules after some Hispanic Caucus members had raised concerns. He said the letter writers were premature, because they didn't wait for the committee to make its recommendations.

"We were willing to look at the possibility of making changes," he said. "The committee was going to look at our bylaws is there anything that we need to change."