Money & Politics | Daily Report

Charlie Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons; AbelMaldonado.com

Mayor Gavin Newsom will get some help from one of the Democratic Party’s most powerful players next month when former President Bill Clinton arrives in California to lend his support in the still-too-close-to-call lieutenant governor’s race.

For Newsom, it’s not a moment too soon. His opponent, the lesser-known Abel Maldonado, has spent recent weeks in a rare national spotlight – the result of a gas line explosion that incinerated a San Bruno neighborhood while the appointed lieutenant governor was filling in for an absent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I think it gave him (Maldonado) some visibility that he desperately needed,” said Ann Crigler, chairwoman of the political sciences department at the University of Southern California. “No one has any idea who he is.”

Even before Maldonado took center stage, heading up press conferences on CNN and tweeting pictures of burned-out playgrounds as he toured the devastation, the race was close. According to a SurveyUSA poll conducted on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, Newsom led slightly with 44 percent compared to Maldonado’s 39 percent.

In fundraising, the well-connected San Francisco mayor (who began soliciting donations earlier in the year during a short-lived gubernatorial run) is far outpacing the former senator from Santa Maria.

Between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010, Newsom raked in $1.4 million compared with Maldonado’s $620,000.

A large chunk of Newsom’s money came from organized labor, with dozens of unions donating $12,900 each, the maximum allowed during the general election.* The mayor has also benefited from relationships with powerful and rich families, records show. The Fishers of Gap, Inc. wealth have given $40,000. The Getty family, longtime friends of the Newsoms, chipped in $45,500. In West Hollywood, actor David Arquette gave $3,000. Director Steven Spielberg wrote a check for $6,500.

Maldonado’s largest donation (and the only one over $10,000) came in the form of $11,900 from the California Professional Firefighters back in February. The group has since endorsed Newsom. Campaign records show much of Maldonado’s funding is coming from growers and developers. William Hume, founder of Basic American Foods, gave $6,500. Salinas-based R.C. Farms contributed the maximum $13,000 as did the 3,000-acre El Sur Ranch. Ocean Mist Farms executives donated $12,500.

Some companies helped both candidates. Blue Shield of California gave $6,500 to Newsom and $1,000 to Maldonado. The San Francisco recycling company Recology donated $2,500 to both.

Newsom also outspent Maldonado slightly, shelling out $960,000 for mailers, polling and airtime between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010. Maldonado spent $790,000, mostly on campaign literature.

*This post has been corrected from an earlier version that identified the maximum contribution allowed by unions as $13,000. In fact, unions (and other donors with small contributor committees) are limited to $12,900 during the primary and general elections - $25,800 total.