Financial Disclosures for CD-46 Come In; Some Surprises

 

Just like the DPOC pre-convention endorsement meeting on Saturday, fundraising for candidates in CD-46 narrowly went for former State Senator Lou Correa over former State Senator Joe Dunn, with Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen bringing up the rear.  Quarter over quarter results show Correa gaining strength over Dunn while Nguyen’s fundraising was about half what it was in Q3.

There’s a lot of money flowing into all three candidate’s coffers that is from outside the district.  And a considerable amount from lawyers, mostly for Correa and Dunn, but for Dunn in particular.

We’ll start with Correa and his results are here.  Correa raised $116,539.78 and refunded $1,500 leaving him with a total of $115,039.78 for the quarter ended December 31, 2015.  Correa spent $14,293.10 and carries $23,500 in debt.  His cash on hand is $251,832.21 for a candidate who has a reputation as an average fundraiser.  Correa also had the most contributions from addresses in the district with 14 and a few from Garden Grove that might be in the district.

Joe Dunn’s campaign raised $113,160 for the quarter.  He spent $67,389 and has debt of just $13,100.  Dunn’s cash on hand is $175,598.  Dunn had just four contributions from inside the district with one of those contributors maxing out a donation from the previous quarter.  The vast majority of Dunn’s individual contributions were from lawyers and law firms, which isn’t a surprise given his background and experience as CEO of the California State Bar.

We’ll return to Dunn’s results in a second.

Bao Nguyen’s fundraising numbers reflect that of someone running for Congress from outside the district.  He had a well publicized fundraiser at the home of LAC Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman but managed to raise only $23,624.39 for the quarter.  He has no debt but spent $30,868.43 leaving him with just $43,113.25 cash on hand.

Republican Lynn Schott, the Mayor Pro Tem of Irvine, raised just $4,010 last quarter, loaned herself $6,000 and has another $900 in loans.  She had $153 in operating expenditures and has $6,839 in expenses, leaving her with just $4,223 cash on hand.  We wish her luck explaining to the many Latino voters in the district why she voted against Irvine’s Living Wage Ordinance that effectively cut the pay of working class Latino contractors back to minimum wage.  Schott’s biggest advance in the primary?  The “R” next to her name.

…..

Back to Joe Dunn’s campaign, a statement from the campaign via text will be followed by a lengthier one via email explaining the fundraising for the quarter.  Here’s the statement from the Dunn campaign:

“Of the additional $120,000 in fundraising pledges reported by the campaign, by October 15, $113,160 has since been received.”

And this announcement came in from the Dunn campaign this post was being reported:

Joe Dunn Leads Again in Latest Fundraising Quarter for June Election

Santa Ana, Calif. – Joe Dunn has reported raising an additional $105,060 for the June primary in California’s 46th Congressional District. This is the second quarter in a row that Dunn has outraised his competitors in funds that can be spent toward the June primary. Dunn also has the highest percentage of individual contributors at 96% of all donations.

“It’s incredibly encouraging to have so many people contribute toward growing our grassroots campaign to get Congress focused on helping the middle class,” said Joe Dunn. “Every day I’m meeting with people who are fed up with the stagnation in Congress and together we’re building the strongest campaign to break through that partisan gridlock that’s holding back the change we need to help working families get ahead.”

Fundraising Quarter Ending December 31, 2015
Joe Dunn raised $105,060 in primary contributions
Lou Correa raised $89,139 in primary contributions
Bao Nguyen raised $23,624 in primary contributions

 

Of the $113,160 raised last quarter by the Dunn campaign, only $38,000 was raised between 10/1/2015 and 10/15/2015 when the Dunn campaign issued a press release saying that $120,000 in commitments were received.  From the press release issued October 15, 2015, this paragraph:

“Dunn raised a quarter million dollars starting in mid-September through October 15, and took the lead among all candidates for most contributions received during the fundraising period for the quarter. Dunn raised $131,249 as of the September 30 reporting deadline and another $120,000 through October 15 despite not having to fundraise for a campaign in nearly 10 years.”

Close, but $244,409 is a few grand shy of a quarter million dollars.  Only $169,249 was actually raised during the period covered by the press release.  I met with Dunn last fall and asked for the list, and he declined.  I told Dunn at the time announcing these numbers without disclosures was unethical and I believed his staff did him a disservice, but if the numbers came in, we’d publish them and apologize.  It appears no apology on our part will be necessary.

In an interview with the Orange Juice Blog’s Vern Nelson, published in November, Nelson quotes Dunn on the fundraising angle:

“Yeah, I know Lou is out there, getting all his old friends to endorse him, and then running to the press, and I don’t blame him, it’s the only way he can respond to our overwhelming fundraising advantage.  We know how much it’ll take to make it through the June primary, we’re on track for that and we’ve just started.  Lou’s fundraising has peaked.  And we WILL have the vast bulk of Labor with us – they remember real well who voted with them and who voted against them.” (editor’s note, Nelson bolded that line, not us).

The numbers are the numbers and contributions come attached to dates.  The latest report shows Correa’s fundraising hasn’t peaked.  Even if all of Dunn’s promised October contributions came through, what about October 15 through New Year’s eve?  Does this mean the Dunn camp raised nothing?

I’ve been alerted to a post on the numbers by Greg Diamond over at the OJ Blog and I’m not sure if Mr. Diamond understands the concept of Apples to Apples or not, but his post about how much was raised by Lou Correa is inaccurate.  From his post, this:

In the CA-46 race, Joe Dunn raised $131,274 in the Q4 (fourth quarter, or October-December) period while Lou Correa raised just $76,001.

In the (obviously somewhat misleading) overall figures, Correa reported $116,539 in 2015. and Dunn reported $113,160.

The Q4 Forth quarter is correctly identified as the “Year End” quarter; the October quarterly is for the previous quarter (Q3).  Dunn’s numbers for the October quarterly match $131,249 raised through the end of September, as does Correa’s $76,001.  The year end quarter isn’t the entire year; it’s for Q4 and Dunn’s numbers of $113,160 raised (a figure confirmed by his campaign) is slotted in that Year-End quarter; Correa’s $116,539.78 reported by Diamond lacks the $1500 in refunds, but Diamond’s claim that Correa only raised $76K “last quarter” is inaccurate or a deliberate mistake to pump up the Dunn camp.  Diamond misstates the amount of money raised and spent by both camps for the year 2015.  Additionally, Diamond ignored the $120,000 claim from the press release put out by the Dunn camp in October’s press release.

I’ll throw the counselor/blogger a bone; Correa’s two vote “win” Saturday wasn’t dominating just like Dunn’s fundraising advantage isn’t overwhelming.