CA: Governor raked in $28.8 million from '04 donors .. doubles what Davis collected his first year

Sac Bee ^ | 2/1/05 | Dan Smith and Alexa H. Bluth

[NormsRevenge]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set box office records and bodybuilding records.

Now he has a campaign fund-raising record.

The Republican governor pulled in $28.8 million from campaign donors last year, more than twice as much as former Gov. Gray Davis collected in his first year in office.

Davis, the Democrat whom Schwarzenegger ousted in the 2003 recall election, still holds the single-year mark with a $29.1 million haul in 2002.

Schwarzenegger didn't do it for his own possible re-election campaign in 2006 - those accounts had less than $700,000 in them at the end of 2004. Most of the cash was raised to push his agenda on the ballot.

His advocacy included backing for two budget-related measures last March and his opposition to a pair of Indian gambling propositions in the fall. It also included his last-minute crusade against Proposition 66 - which would have softened the "three-strikes" sentencing law. He was successful in all of those high-profile pursuits.

The fund-raising numbers, reported on Monday's deadline to file 2004 disclosure forms, are stunning to the experts.

"This is a staggering amount of money for any politician, but even more so for a governor who came into office promising to get rid of money in politics," said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.

Bob Stern of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies said it is difficult to compare Schwarzenegger to Davis, who amassed millions for his own re-election efforts rather than ballot measure committees.

"But it still is an enormous sum of money, and obviously he received a lot of it from what he might even call a special interest," Stern said.

"He's getting a lot of money from people who want something from government, and that's by definition a special interest."

[EagleUSA]

"He's getting a lot of money from people who want something from government, and that's by definition a special interest."
=====
Well if you call real citizens in California who love their state, and want it fixed back to what it used to be economically, ergonomically and educationally, then this guy can call us A SPECIAL INTEREST. We are California's BEST special interest.

[nothingnew]

The Republican governor pulled in $28.8 million from campaign donors last year, more than twice as much as former Gov. Gray Davis collected in his first year in office.

Well, I guess some people like him. I don't know why or why not. I try to think about California as little as possible. It's hard, but somebody has to not do it.

FMCDH(BITS)

[NormsRevenge]

Schwarzenegger ready to top last year's fund-raising record

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/01/BAGL9B3KRT1.DTL

Mark Martin, San Francisco Chronicle

Schwarzenegger has been criticized for vacuuming up so much money -- most of it coming from business interests -- but doesn't appear ready to slow down. He told the Los Angeles Times' editorial board last week that he planned on raising $50 million this year to promote several proposals that seem headed toward a ballot.

[NormsRevenge]

Governor setting fundraising records

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/10785705.htm

Dion Nissenbaum and Ann E. Marimow, San Jose Mercury News


Fueled by six- and seven-figure special-interest donations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised a record-breaking $26 million last year to fund his political campaigns, according to campaign-finance reports released Monday. The Republican governor who has made curbing special-interest influence a crusade has collected huge sums from agenda-driven supporters, including $1.5 million from an Orange County high-tech investor and $450,000 from a Fox News subsidiary.

[Carry_Okie]

[freekitty]

These guys sure can raise a lot money for themselves; but they can't get social security right, they can't get education right; they can't get health care right and etc., etc., etc.

Somehow, it says I am in it for me and the people who control me.

My grandfather and father-in-law were both asked many years ago to run for the State Senate in their own respective states, California and Texas and they both refused for only one reason and that was independence.

Maybe they should have run.

My father was asked to be on many boards and he politely said no. The reason; control....

[calcowgirl]

Los Angeles Times, Jan 29, 2005:

Many of Schwarzenegger's donations come from insurance companies, telecommunications firms and other corporate interests that lobby state government. Though Schwarzenegger often derides "special interests" as a dangerous force in Sacramento, he repeatedly states that he is not beholden to anyone because he is wealthy.

"I think this is why the people sent me to Sacramento," the governor said in a news conference this week, "because I cannot be bought."