Publication Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2004
It's money that matters?
It's money that matters?
(October 27, 2004)If you have it, there's a lot of ways you could spend $5 million.
Republican Steve Poizner is splurging to get elected to the state Assembly. He defends this choice, which many Democrats have derided as a way to "buy" the seat in the 21st District.
There's only two ways to get elected under the current political system -- spend a lot of your own money or get donations from special interest, argued Poizner, who accused Ruskin of going the latter route.
More than $750,000 of opponent Ira Ruskin's $1.7 million come from the Democratic Party. He has also loaned his campaign around $100,000. More than $200,000 has also been sent from Sacramento, courtesy of trial lawyers, consumer advocates, teacher organizations, health care workers and other union groups.
Meanwhile, Poizner said he is not taking "one dime" from special interests or political parties to emphasize his independence. As of Friday, nearly $5 million of his $5.2 million war chest came from his bank account. But he has also received contributions from venture capitalists, business leaders like the CEO of Sun and the founder of Gap, and Hoover Institute fellows.
The large sum Poizner is spending has concerned Democrats used to thinking of the area as a safe haven.
"This assembly race has never been at level that Mr. Poizner has taken it to," said Palo Alto Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg, who was earlier rumored to have her eye on the seat. "That has completely outbalanced this campaign. ... That will certainly, forever after, raise the bar."
Poizner wants to change the system to allow self-proclaimed moderates like himself to get elected without needing millions. He has expressed support for open primaries and letting an independent commission set district boundaries.
"Closed primaries plus gerrymandering equals extremists from both sides -- you get exactly what you'd expect," he said.
-- Bill D'Agostino
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