Posted on 08/09/2002 2:14:29 PM PDT by gubamyster
Friday, Aug. 9, 2002
Gary Mendoza, a candidate for California State Insurance Commissioner, has managed to raise over $500,000 in campaign funds, making him the second-largest money raiser among so-called "down ballot" hopefuls in this year's statewide races. He has a mere $31,039 in campaign debt.
In contrast, his opponent, John Garamendi, a former insurance commissioner and deputy secretary of the interior in the Clinton administration, has managed to run up an incredible $703,000 campaign debt, the largest amount of debt incurred by any of the down-ballot candidates of either party.
Apparently Garamendi learned his lessons in financial management from his fellow Democrat Gov. Gray Davis, who admits that the state's budget shortfall of an incredible $24 billion was caused by his own fiscal mismanagement and ignorance. To bail out his own fiscal mismanagement, Davis of course wants to raise taxes on California residents.
As a Republican, Mendoza is one of those Latinos who frighten Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who betrayed his fears of people of Latino heritage deserting his party for the GOP when he charged President Bush with pandering to Hispanics for their votes.
Said Mendoza campaign consultant Kevin Spillane: "Gary Mendoza's fund-raising success is impressive by any measure. But it's particularly noteworthy that Gary is the second-largest fund-raiser for this reporting period among Republican down-ballot statewide candidates and has generated ... $500,000, although he entered this race much later than most of the other statewide candidates. What's more, Mendoza has earned support from a wide diversity of supporters, many of whom are not traditional Republican donors."
"John Garamendi is bringing the same talent for financial mismanagement to his statewide campaign committee that he brought to the Executive Life insolvency and the Department of Insurance during his previous disastrous tenure," Spillane continued.
Speaking about Garamendi's handling of the liquidation of Executive Life Insurance Inc., when Garamendi was insurance commissioner, Tom Calderon, chairman of the California Assembly Committee on Insurance and a fellow Democrat, had this to say, according to the San Francisco Chronicle of March 1, 2002.
"This was one of the most horrific cases of malpractice by an elected official documented in California history," Calderon charged.
"It's typical Garamendi that he is engaging in WorldCom type accounting and trying to artificially inflate his campaign account by carrying a huge debt of over $700,000, by far the largest of any down ballot candidate - Republican or Democrat. Because of Garamendi's debt, Mendoza has a stronger net cash position than his opponent."
Spillane concluded, "Recent polling shows that Garamendi's support is weak and that Gary Mendoza has gained on him significantly. The latest fund-raising reports further demonstrate why John Garamendi is in such a competitive race."
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