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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 9, 1998 |
CONTACT: John Sullivan PHONE: (916) 443-4900
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Trial lawyer 1998 campaign contributions to candidates for California Senate and Assembly seats reached just under the $2 million dollar mark before the June 30 reporting deadline, according to campaign reports reviewed by the Civil Justice Association of California. The total is expected to soar in the weeks before the November 3 General Election.
As reported by Civil Justice Association of California on September 9, another $2 million in plaintiff trial lawyer contributions has been reported received by state-wide office candidates so far during the 1997-98 election cycle, bringing the total pumped into California campaigns by trial attorneys through June 30 to $4.0 million.
Of the total legislative candidate contributions, $1,000,600 was reported received by Assembly incumbents and candidates who will appear on the November ballot, while $650,700 went to Senate incumbents and candidates who will be before the voters in the General Election. Another $324,900 was reported received by candidates who did not survive the June Primary Election, bringing the total contributions -- almost all received since January 1 of this year -- to $1,976,203.
Of the total received by incumbents and candidates who will appear on the November ballot, $1,533,800 went to Democrats and $117,500 to Republicans.
John Sullivan, president of the Civil Justice Association of California, predicted that contributions from trial lawyers to legislative candidates would surpass the $3 million identified in the 1995-96 election cycle.
"The pattern we have seen is big, last minute contributions from the trial lawyers -- possibly because their polls, just like ours, show that voters more often than not prefer to vote against a candidate whom they know has accepted a large chunk of trial lawyer money," Sullivan said.
"While political contributions are a legitimate part of our freedom to communicate and select our representatives in government, the public should know when narrow interests are running a massive program to elect people they hope will look out for them in Sacramento," Sullivan said.
Total Trial Lawyer Legislative Contributions by Region 97-98 (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these files.):
