Campaign finance reports filed on Thursday May 25th show that Tom Umberg is the clear leader in direct campaign fundraising. To date, Assemblyman Umberg has raised more than $506,000 in support of his Senate campaign.
In contrast, Supervisor Lou Correa has raised only $214,000, less than 43% of the support received by Assemblyman Umberg. Instead of relying on direct support for his campaign, Correa has based his entire campaign for Senate on support from shady special interest groups, independently spending in excess of $423,000 as of May 25th.
The special interests supporting Lou Correa consist of committees backed by Indian gaming, auto insurance companies, energy companies and corporate big business interests opposed to core democratic values like, a livable minimum wage, employee rights and protections, and regulations that protect consumers from corporate fraud and abuse.
These special interests will stop at nothing, and spend as much unregulated money as necessary, to mislead the voters about Tom Umberg’s record in support of working families in Orange County.
The most recent cable TV advertisement paid for by Correa supporter Californians United, is grossly deceptive; suggesting that Assemblyman Umberg is the only candidate who has accepted money from Tobacco companies, when Correa has also done just that. This deceptive attack ad suggests that Assemblyman Umberg is the only candidate who has been fined by the Fair Political Practices Commission, even though Correa was fined for the exact same thing.
One of the most recent attack mailers by Californians for Jobs and A Strong Economy falsly accuses Tom Umberg of lying about his military service and attacks Tom personally with out of context statements attributed to his wife Robin.
The voters in this election need to understand that there is a reason why these special interests, who also support Governor Schwarzenegger, are supporting Lou Correa.
They expect to get the vote they are paying for.