Will Money Buy Your Vote?

San Bernardino County DA race: Ramos has money, opponents' cupboards are bare
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, April 2, 2010
By RICHARD K. DE ATLEYThe Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos has $393,278 in his campaign account, while each of his opponents show an ending cash balance of zero in their financial statements.
Statements from Grand Terrace attorney Frank Guzman and Hinkley lawyer Bob Conaway show both men have provided what money there has been in their campaigns so far.
The statements cover the period from Jan. 1 through March 17. The election is June 8. To avoid a November runoff, Ramos needs to win 50 percent of the vote, plus one.
Ramos is running for his third term. His statement says he took in $60,390, spent $70,484 and had an ending balance of $393,278.60.
Major contributors during the period include $10,000 each from Dr. Prem Reddy of Victorville; the Riverside law firm of Carter, Spring, Schank & O'Connor; and the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association.
Reddy is the owner of Prime Healthcare Services Inc. It has 13 hospitals, 12 of which are in Southern California. The law firm is headed by two long-time Inland criminal defense attorneys, James Spring and Earl Carter.
The employee association's 3,100 members include sheriff's deputies, district attorney investigators, probation corrections officers and other agency investigators.
The campaign reported a $3,000 contribution to the association's charity fund during the same period.
Contributors of $5,000 each included Frontier Finance Co. of Rancho Cucamonga, Mitsubishi Cement Corp. of Lucerne Valley, a mining concern, and C. Tate & Associates of Apple Valley.
Payments included $7,500 to the David Ellis Group of Tustin for campaign consultation; another $7,500 to Delta Partners consultancy, also in Tustin.
The campaign put thousands of dollars into campaign literature with expenses including $11,550 for a voter guide, $4,500 for a slate mailer and $2,900 to one company for printing.
Conaway, who previously has run for judge and three times for Congress, said he was financing his own campaign for now. "Right now that seems to be where I'm headed," he said by phone.
Records show Conaway paid the $1,927.30 filing fee to run for the office out of his own pocket.
Guzman, who came in third in the 2006 race against Ramos, made a $33,619 loan to himself to pay for his filing fee and candidate ballot statement. "I am using my own money. I started late," Guzman said by phone, but he said he would start seeking funds.

Reach Richard K. De Atley at 951-368-9573 or redeatley@PE.com