Assembly race: PACs spend big bucks on Barton, Carcione Assembly race: PACs spend big bucks on Barton, Carcione (February 25, 2004)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Although all four candidates in the Democratic primary for the 21st District Assembly seat agreed to voluntary spending limits, political action committees are spending big bucks on two of the candidates.

John Carcione and John Barton both benefited from some sizable late independent expenditures, according to the California Secretary of State's Web site. In the case of Mr. Barton, the independent expenditures exceed by $30,000 the amount of money he has raised for his own campaign thus far.

Independent expenditures, or "soft money," are funds spent by political action committees in behalf of, or against, a candidate or issue. They are separate from a candidate's own campaign committee and not governed by the voluntary spending-limit rules.

Records show that, as of February 20, more than $174,000 was spent on campaign mailers supporting Mr. Barton, and $155,000 on mailers, cable television advertisements and voter contact in support of Menlo Park resident John Carcione.

The California Alliance made five expenditures in behalf of Mr. Carcione between February 6 and 20. The alliance describes itself as a coalition of consumer attorneys, conservationists and nurses, and was formed to support progressive candidates in 2002, according to the L.A. Weekly.

Almost all of the funds spent in behalf of Mr. Barton came from Californians for Civil Justice Reform, the political action committee of the Civil Justice Association of California, a group lobbying for tort reform and "fighting wasteful lawsuits." According to its Web site, the group is a coalition of "citizens, taxpayers, businesses, local governments, professionals, manufacturers, financial institutions, insurers, and medical organizations." The group made an expenditure of $99,425 on February 19 and another one for $67,317 on February 20.

An additional $7,706 on mailers supporting Mr. Barton was spent by Moderate Democrats for California.

On behalf of Barbara Nesbet of Monte Sereno, $6,000 was spent on a slate mailer by the Peace Officers Research Association of California PAC. According to PORAC's Web site, it is a lobbying group representing more than 55,000 officers and "has the clout to tie up and/or kill legislative issues that are detrimental to peace officers."

No late independent expenditures were reported in behalf of Ira Ruskin of Redwood City.

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