RIVERSIDE -- Incumbent county supervisors maintained healthy fund-raising advantages against their rivals in the March 2 primary, largely because of a steady stream of money from supporters, finance reports showed Wednesday.
In the two-man race for the 3rd District seat, which includes Murrieta and Temecula and stretches east to Hemet and San Jacinto, incumbent Jim Venable received $15,600 in campaign contributions in the Jan. 1-17 reporting period. The largest donation ($5,000) came from Duane Roberts, who owns the Mission Inn in downtown Riverside.
Venable spent $60,667 in the reporting period, with most going toward campaign mailers and television advertising. He finished the period with $387,703 on hand.
"I think I am in good shape," Venable said. "I'm not out campaigning. I'm not out pounding on doors … By God, you are paying me good money so I would expect you would want some work out me … You better not sell the public short."
His only challenger, Temecula City Councilman Jeff Stone, took in the most money of all the supervisorial candidates in the 17-day reporting period -- $110,499. The majority was a $100,000 loan from Herbert Groch of Murrieta, someone Stone said was a longtime family friend. Stone spent $21,640 in the same period largely on campaign literature and ended the period with $192,093 on hand.
"It has become a little more robust," said Stone of his fund-raising efforts.
In the contest for the 1st District seat, three-term incumbent Bob Buster ended the reporting period with $434,240 cash on hand, or nearly six times as much money as challenger Linda Soubirous, who reported $73,307 in the bank. Former Lake Elsinore City Councilman Kevin Pape, the third candidate in the race, reported a cash balance of about $3,179.
The 1st District is centered in the northern part of the county, although it reaches down the western edge to take in Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and the mountain and plateau communities west of Murrieta and Temecula.
During the short fund-raising period, Buster raised $49,554, finance reports showed. A large portion of that money came in single $5,000 contributions from Cameo Homes of Newport Beach, Young Homes of Rancho Cucamonga and Century American Development of Orange.
Also making individual $5,000 donations to Buster's re-election campaign were the Laborers' International Union of North America Local 777 and the Mission Inn's Roberts. Buster's expenditures totaled nearly $62,953 in the reporting period, with the majority begin spent on television and print advertisements.
"People have been very supportive, very generous. I think we have the resources to mount a vigorous campaign," Buster said.
Soubirous narrowly edged out Buster in the 17-day reporting period, picking up about $51,135, mainly because of a $50,000 contribution from the Riverside Sheriffs Association Political Action Committee Fund. The sheriffs association is the union that represents the county's deputies. Soubirous spent a total of $17,025 in the same period.
"I am in good shape and I am using my money wisely," said Soubirous, who was campaigning door-to-door near Buchanan Street and Magnolia Avenue on Wednesday in Riverside. "We've got a lot of volunteers working and that way I can get a lot more done."
Pape picked up $7,250 during the reporting period. He received $5,000 from Rick Goacher Planning Inc. in Irvine, and $2,000 from Jean Domenigoni of Winchester. Pape spent $2,678 in the same 17-day period.
"We are plugging along trying to raise enough money to get our message out," said Pape, whose top issues are growth and traffic.
If none of the candidates in the 1st District race receives a majority of the vote in March, there would be a runoff in the Nov. 2 general election. Because there are only two candidates in the 3rd District race, it will be settled in March, although the winners in both races won't take office until January 2005.
Prospective voters have until Feb. 17 to register for the March 2 election.
Contact staff writer Wyatt Haupt at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or whaupt@californian.com.
