
I reviewed the late expenditure reports for Tom Daly last night and found that big business interests have released a tsunami of cash in support of County Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly’s campaign for State Assembly in the 69th Assembly District. This dwarfs the $198,000 dropped so far into the Orange County Labor Federation’s Dignity PAC supporting Julio Perez, and more than makes up for his dismal fundraising performance.
The independent expenditures come from JOBSPAC, A BI-PARTISAN COALITION OF CALIFORNIA EMPLOYERS, and CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE.

The support from business interests for Daly is not unexpected. With the backing of the right leaning Orange County Business Council, Daly is considered the best Democrat that Republican money can buy, in a race where a Democrat is all but certain to win in the general election. Now that the faucet has opened for Daly, be prepared for more money to enter the race for Perez from Dignity PAC as needed.
Michele Martinez has yet to see any of that big IE push from Indian Tribal groups for her that she bragged about on the train ride a few months ago. Maybe she spoke too soon? Maybe the absence of those funds is why she wanted to change Santa Ana campaign finance rules allowing her to shake down potential donors whose contracts she recently voted in favor of.
In addition to the flood of cash,
The Orange County Taxpayers Association Political Action Committee (OCTaxPAC) announced its endorsement of Daly.
“We enthusiastically support Tom Daly for Assembly. We are confident that Mr. Daly will help get the state back on the right track and will protect the taxpayers of Orange County. We believe that Tom will make a strong showing in this highly contested race,” said Reed Royalty, a member of the Board of OCTaxPAC.
Reed Royalty, and the Orange County Taxpayers Association founder, are vocal opponents of public employee pensions and labor groups. Their endorsement of Daly is likely to add fuel to their opposition to his candidacy.
The race in the 69th is heating up, and the money is really pouring in.
Is anyone suprised that the likes of insurance companies who screw most Californians are backing Daly? You don’t pour that much money into a race unless you are scared that another candidate will win and actually do the right thing for the people. Now everyone knows Tom Daly is not the Democrat he is pretending to be.
My feeling about Daly is this. He’s certainly not as liberal as Perez, but I don’t see him as a fake Dem or even a conservative Dem.
Clearly a Democrat is going to be elected, whether that Dem is Perez, Martinez, or Daly. If I were a Republican, I think Daly is the one I’d prefer — not because he’s a DINO but because he’s somewhat less liberal and has a history of being able to work with people on all sides.
So then the question becomes: if Daly is elected, is he going to be Daly or will he feel he has to vote the way his donors want him to vote?
Some of you are thinking, “Howard, don’t be naive. Of course he will vote the way his donors want.” Think that all you want, but I probably know more elected officials well than you other commenters do, and I don’t believe that’s necessarily the case. Donors don’t support candidates to get payback, they support candidates who are most likely to vote in a way that supports their interests.
“Donors don’t support candidates to get payback, they support candidates who are most likely to vote in a way that supports their interests.”
So, you are saying that Tom Daly is most likely to vote in favor of the Real Estate Industry, Big Oil, Tobacco Industry, the Insurance Industry (Rate Increase anyone?), Chevron (fracking anyone?), Philip Morris, Blue Cross of California (Rate Increases, anyone?) Farmers Insurance (Rate Increase anyone?), Edison (Rate increase anyone?).
You can tell alot about someone by the company they keep and the companies and industries who give them money. Daly has no interest in the people of the 69th AD, he has interest in the money he can get for corporate interests. His is a corporate campaign paid for by the corporate business interests Daly is beholden to.
If you feel corporations are oppressed and need representation in Sacramento, Daly is your man. This money comes in to pay for the Dem that is really a Reep, in an open primary designed to circumvent a true democratic primary in an overwhelmingly democratic seat. Daly will aim for republican votes, and white votes in a 73% Latino district. Otherwise, how else will “geuro tomas” get elected in this district?
NOW you know why Solorio endorsed Martinez and then swung his support to Daly: To split the latino vote. You also know why Martinez has lost financial steam and is getting no IE support.
Michele’s being abandoned at the end was not only predictable, it was predicted — by me and others at the time she got in. It was always about splitting the Latino vote — and if they could get her past Perez, she’d find herself without resources at the end as we found out who Solorio and others actually supported.
It looks now that, with Moreno siphoning off some of Daly’s Republican vote and Barragan respectable but a non-factor, it will be Daly vs. Perez after all. I honestly feel bad for Michele. She has been used — and judging from her history she’s better than the campaign she’s had to run. I hope that before long she returns to form.
If Martinez run for the 69th gets the cities campaign law fixed and strengthen, And gets the sunshine law pushed forward (Something the state has failed miserably at a year and half ago) then she will have a win win situation.
WHO SUPPORTS TOM DALY? AT&T and VERIZON!! What else do they support (oh, that, y’know, TOM DALY “MIGHT”?
Just got this:
Dear Bernie,
Remember when AT&T got elected to the California legislature?
Didn’t think so.
Right now, AT&T and Verizon are working overtime to reverse basic public interest protections in California. The companies want free rein over telephone service across the state, and they’re working behind the scenes to get it with their bill: SB 1161.
Urge your state senator to vote NO on SB 1161
The bill is corporate-backed legislation that will kill consumer protections for Californians and threaten telephone access. The bill endangers government oversight for all voice service in California, and it gives the phone companies a free pass to rip off consumers and leave rural and low-income communities without access.
What’s more, the bill would preserve the advantages these powerful phone companies get when building out their state networks, but it would remove almost any obligation they have to serve the public. Some deal, huh?
To top it all off, the bill would be expensive to implement – decreasing the state’s revenues and increasing costs to California taxpayers.
Last month, a key committee in the California legislature voted 12–0 to let companies like AT&T and Verizon operate with zero state-government oversight. We can’t let this bill proceed any further.
We need your state senator to take a stand now. SB 1161 destroys a series of longstanding consumer protections and service-quality standards. This giveaway to the telecoms has got to go.
Sign our petition urging your senator to vote NO on SB 1161.
Thank you,
Candace, Misty, Matt and the rest of the Free Press Action Fund team
1. “Bill Would Strip PUC’s Oversight of Land Lines, Critics Say,” the Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2012: http://act2.freepress.net/go/10214?akid=3518.9747155.C4UANH&t=6
P.S. Like our work? The Free Press Action Fund is powered by donations from people like you. We don’t take a single cent from business, government or political parties. Please keep us going strong with a gift of $10 — or more — today. Thank you!
“So, you are saying that Tom Daly is most likely to vote in favor of the Real Estate Industry, Big Oil, Tobacco Industry, the Insurance Industry…”
As I said, a Dem is going to be elected. Although I don’t think Daly will ever vote for something that strongly favors any of those industries over people, I think on a bill that gives a slight advantage to one of those industries, yes, he might vote in support.
And he’s much more likely than Perez is to vote in favor of a moderate bill such as that.
Ponder the conspiracy theories all you want, but what I’m describing is how politics REALLY work.
The OC Tax Association just supported him as well
On their website they have tons of information of public pension, listing it as a serious problem.
The OCTax’s advice to taxpayers and voters: “Whenever you meet or correspond with your elected representative, ask what he or she will do about excessive public employee pensions. You’ll get a knowledgeable answer, but it’s likely to be vague about actual steps. Don’t stop there. Demand specifics. Then tell your representative that your vote in the next election will depend on his or her actions on this long-ignored problem.”
So Tm Daly has the support of Firefighters and the support of an anti-public pension Firefighters group.
I would equate this to Nativo Lopez and Barbara Coe agreeing on a candidate’s stance on immigration.
Either someone is being lied to or someone is getting paid off for their support.