Friday May 9

Lobbyists give money for Papan mailings

By Shaun Bishop / Daily News Staff Writer

Fundraising for the state Assembly 19th District race took a new twist in recent days when three statewide lobbyist groups began pouring almost $200,000 for mailings supporting Democratic candidate Gina Papan.

As her opponents blasted the independent contributions, which totaled $199,128.60 as of Thursday, Papan said she hadn't seen them coming.

"This is free speech," said Papan, Millbrae's mayor. "We have no control over it."

With less than a month left until the June 3 primary election, the donations signaled the first influence of independent contributors in a campaign that isn't bound by voluntary spending caps or individual contribution limits. State law says such contributions cannot be made in coordination with a candidate or go into a candidate's campaign fund.

The contributions give Papan a significant boost in the money race, which Supervisor Jerry Hill had so far led. Hill ended the latest reporting period on March 24 with $346,000 in the bank; Richard Holober, $317,000; and Papan, $200,000.

Hill is the only candidate who did not agree to the voluntary spending cap of $483,000.

The spending on Papan's mailers came mostly from two groups representing the health care industry - $82,600 from the Cooperative of American Physicians Inc. and $102,300 from Californians Allied for Patient Protection.

Cooperative of American Physicians, based in Los Angeles, provides medical malpractice coverage for 10,000 physicians statewide; Sacramento-based Californians Allied for Patient Protection represents doctors, hospitals, clinics and medical malpractice insurance companies. A third group, the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, contributed about $13,000.

One of the pamphlets has a picture of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on the cover and proclaims, "20 million women didn't vote in the last election ... Be part of the change."

The mailers drew fire from the two other Democrats vying to replace Gene Mullin in the heavily Democratic district.

Holober, president of the San Mateo County Community College District's board, slammed the health care industry's backing of the mailers, saying the insurance industry "virtually without exception fights to the death to defeat consumer protections.

"That's not the kind of money I would ever accept. I'm a consumer advocate," he said.

Papan emphasized she did not have any say over the groups' spending. "All I can say is I'm happy to see they're positive pieces, and I'm glad to have support from a wide group of constituents," Papan said.

Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection, said her group included a variety of health care sectors, not just insurance companies. "The reason we like Gina is she is going to work to make sure access to care is protected in California," Maas said.

Hill's campaign questioned the timing of the mailings, as absentee ballots were mailed out and early voting started Monday.

"I think the question is, tactically, why didn't she do anything this week to the absentees?" asked Ed McGovern, Hill's campaign manager. "Why hasn't she mailed like Richard has and we have? ... The only conclusion I can come to is she knew this stuff was coming."

Representatives of the groups denied they coordinated with Papan on the mailers. Papan also denied any collusion and said voters should expect mail from her soon. "We have a set plan for our campaign and we're sticking to our plan."

Independent expenditures have become increasingly common since passage of Proposition 34, the 2000 measure that established new limits on individual contributions and voluntary spending, said Terry Christensen, a professor of political science at San Jose State University.

"It's the dirty little secret of campaign finance reform," Christensen said. "Independent expenditures aren't controllable, so interest groups just ship their money over that way."



E-mail Shaun Bishop at sbishop@dailynewsgroup.com.