Spending rises in mayoral campaign
Fundraising pales in city attorney race
By Matthew T. Hall and Alex Roth, Union-Tribune

San Diego's supposedly charged race for city attorney is off to a sluggish start, judging by campaign forms filed yesterday that show little fundraising by any candidate, including incumbent Michael Aguirre.

By comparison, the race between Mayor Jerry Sanders and businessman Steve Francis, widely expected to be an expensive one, is living up to its billing.

Since July, Sanders has amassed $343,073 in contributions, and Francis has put $185,266 of his own money into the contest since a late start in October.

After expenses, Francis has $17,880 left in the bank and Sanders, $127,818.

Francis has spent most of his money on consultants, polling and his Web site. Sanders' money has gone to consultants, fundraisers, campaign literature, video production and polling.

Both are expected to wage costly television ads as the campaign progresses, with Francis spending more. Mail will multiply as well.

Francis spent $2 million from his own pocket to finish third in the 2005 mayor's race, while also accepting contributions from some of the city's biggest developers, Douglas Manchester and the McMillin companies.

Francis, board chairman of AMN Healthcare, a medical staffing company he co-founded here with his wife, has said he will refuse all contributions this time around so he won't owe favors if elected.

Sanders counters Francis on the campaign trail by touting his sheer number of contributors as a show of widespread community support. So far 1,487, people have given up to a maximum of $320 each for the June 3 election.

If no candidate wins more than half the vote, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff election Nov. 4. The winners would be sworn into office to four-year terms Dec. 8. Four City Council races are also up for grabs and candidates reported widely varying amounts of campaign activity yesterday.

City attorney race
In the race for city attorney, the candidate with the most money is a guy no longer in the race - local prosecutor William Gentry.

Aguirre raised $4,619 for his re-election campaign during the last six months of 2007, $1,000 of which he contributed himself.

Aguirre is also still trying to retire the debt from his 2004 campaign, during which he lent himself roughly $560,500. Of that amount, $545,982 remains as debt. In the final six months of 2007, he raised $1,475 to pay off some of that debt, yesterday's filings show.

Of the three current Aguirre challengers who began soliciting contributions in 2007, all raised comparable amounts.

Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith has raised $8,220, which includes a $1,000 loan to himself. Attorney Dan Coffey has raised $7,379, including $1,221 of his own money spent on computers and video equipment. And attorney Lee Burdick has raised $6,885, including a $3,000 loan to herself.

City Council member Brian Maienschein is also planning to run but didn't file the necessary paperwork until the beginning of 2008.

Maienschein has $251,922 left over from his 2004 City Council race. Local election rules allow him to spend that money on his city attorney campaign, providing he follows certain guidelines.

Mayoral race
As the city's top-ranking official and someone whose main challenger is a millionaire, Sanders' fundraising has predictably outpaced the efforts of everyone else on the ballot.

Sanders announced his candidacy in lavish fashion at the Town and Country Resort on Sept. 20. Since then, he has held 13 additional fundraisers at a mix of homes, hotels, restaurants and businesses. More are being scheduled now.

Hosts have included prominent San Diegans, such as philanthropist Pauline Foster, businesswoman and former port commissioner Susan Lew, and Tony Krvaric, head of the county Republican Party.

The GOP, which endorsed Francis in the 2005 primary election, is backing Sanders this time, which is expected to be a factor in the race. Under state law, the party can spend unlimited amounts of money on mailers to party members on Sanders' behalf and coordinate its efforts with his re-election campaign.

San Diego elections are technically nonpartisan, but party politics play a central role. So far, it seems Sanders won't face a challenge from any prominent Democratic candidates, but the field won't be final until March 6.

To date, there are two other mayoral candidates.

Rocky Neptun, a Green Party member and director of the San Diego Renters Union, has raised less than $1,000, and Democratic candidate Jim Bell, an ecological designer with no money, has not been a factor in four previous races.