Becerra dominates attorney general campaign fundraising

SACRAMENTO — State Attorney General Xavier Becerra has raised $4 million in campaign donations since Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the job last year.

This is about twice as much as the total raised by all his opponents, according to campaign finance data released this week by the California Secretary of State’s office.

However, fellow Democrat and state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones raised $1.1 million and racked up dozens of endorsements despite being in the unenviable position of running against an appointed incumbent of his own party. Becerra has about twice as much cash on hand as Jones, more than $3.1 million.

Meanwhile, a pair of Republicans — Los Angeles attorney Eric P. Early and retired El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Steven C. Bailey — pulled in more than $200,000 apiece, mostly in the final months of the year.

Realistically, Jones, Early and Bailey are competing to survive California’s top-two primary in June, with the winner given a chance to take on Becerra in the fall general election.

Voters will experience a very different campaign depending on which of the three gets through.

Early and Bailey are each seeking to woo a relatively small GOP base in the Golden State, then leverage independents and moderates if they can make it into the fall. Both have taken fairly standard Republican positions and say Becerra has offered more style than substance with his high-profile battles with the Trump administration.

“Every act of his is the act of a professional politician trying to extend a mediocre political career,” said Early, managing partner of Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP. “I relish the thought of going head-to-head against him.”

“This is about an appointed attorney general who is more focused on what is happening in Washington than on our state,” said Corey Uhden, communications director for Bailey’s campaign. “This has just been a partisan political use of the office.”

But if one Republican can’t gain a significant advantage over the other by June, it could set the stage for a Democrat versus Democrat race in the fall. While Becerra would still be a serious favorite if he faced Jones, it could be a harder race in a state where no Republican has won statewide since 2006.

As insurance commissioner, Jones also has a statewide office to use as a platform, though a far less visible one. He has filed numerous lawsuits against insurers during his time in office and has put out press releases touting his work on behalf of victims of the 2017 wildfires.

Becerra campaign spokesman Roger Salazar noted the incumbent out-raised Jones 3-to-1 during the final three months of 2017, $1.05 million to about $366,000. Salazar also said a large number of small donations “shows the breadth and depth of the support for the attorney general.”

Nearly three quarters of Becerra’s donations were $100 or less, compared to about 17 percent for Jones. The Jones campaign did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

Jones’ fundraising has been particularly strong among attorneys. Of his total contributions, about $270,000 comes from attorneys, judges and law professors. Becerra has raised around $427,000 from these groups.

These numbers suggest a line of attack the two Republicans could use to try to keep Jones out of the fall election.

“We knew we were going to be out-raised by the establishment Democrats,” Uhden said. “Dave Jones has been a competing for a long time. He has a lot of support from the trial lawyer lobby.”

Bailey has raised less than $9,000 from attorneys. Early has gotten about $20,800 from attorneys, not counting $8,450 from attorneys at his firm and $15,000 from himself.

Early claimed he was gaining momentum over Bailey. He out-gained the former judge by about $208,000 to $126,000 during the final quarter of the year.

“Our numbers show we both raised almost exactly the same amount of money, but he’s been doing it for at least a year,” Early said. “We are clearly raising money at a much faster pace.”

Early showed no donations before October, the same month he announced his campaign. Bailey listed donations going back to the beginning of 2017.

But Uhden said Bailey’s campaign didn’t really start until he retired from the bench at the end of August; about 90 percent of his donations came after Aug. 31. He also pointed to Bailey’s endorsements from local law enforcement groups and said he would make rising crime rates a significant issue in the campaign.

“Judge Bailey is the only candidate with a criminal justice background,” Uhden said, adding, “The party in power is acting out of step with most state voters” on crime-related issues.