A surprising lack of giving

Orange County -- and Newport-Mesa in particular -- is often touted

as being among the most concentrated, powerful bastions of

Republicanism in the country. The county GOP, for instance, calls it

“America’s Most Republican County” and claims some 200,000 registered

Republicans.

High-powered Republican visits and fund-raisers are typical (at

the end of the month, there is one for Katherine Harris’ Florida

congressional bid, for instance). President Bush carried the county

by double-digit figures but lost California, as a whole, by 12%. It

has senior Republican representation in the House, led by Chris Cox,

who is among the party’s leadership.

But, strangely, that power and influence has not in recent years

translated into significant financial support to the party.

Overall during the 2001-02 election cycle, the county ranks fifth

in the state for total money donated to either party and to political

candidates and political action committees of all stripes, according

to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign

donations.

For donations up to June of this year, Orange Countians have given

$5.8 million, just $10,000 ahead of residents of the San Diego metro

area and $1 million behind those living in the San Jose area. All

three trail the biggest donation sites -- Los Angeles/Long Beach at

$33.3 million and San Francisco at $13.4 million -- significantly.

The numbers are even more interesting on an individual level,

where -- given the wealth of the Newport-Mesa community -- it seems

logical to expect some heavy donations in terms of unlimited soft

money gifts to the political parties.

But, aside from Spanish Ambassador George Argyros, who gave

$250,000 to the Republican National Committee in 1998 and another $125,000 in 2001, and a single big donation of $50,000 from Irvine

Co. head Don Bren in 2000, the numbers are frequently small or even

nonexistent. (Workers for the Irvine Co., as a whole, have given only

$26,000 this election cycle. In 2000, they gave just $150,000,

including Bren’s share, after a “big” 1998 election cycle, in which

they gave $243,000).

There’s nothing from the Segerstrom family, which has given

millions to the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The Samuelis,

of Broadcom fame and also multimillion-dollar supporters of the

Center, are not political donors, though people working for and

representing the company did give a total of $10,000 in the 2000

election cycle. Other names that are often attached to big gifts in

Newport-Mesa -- the Creans and Paul Salata -- save their giving for

local causes, as does Emulex chief Paul Folino, who gave just $1,000

to the GOP a year ago but is a major Center supporter.

One other GOP standout is the owners of Fletcher Jones Motorcars,

whose 2001 soft money donations totaled about $16,000, still a

minuscule amount when the top soft money donor for the current

election cycle, Saban Entertainment, has given $7.7 million and the

top 10 involves donations of more than $350,000.

On the other side of the political aisle, super agent Leigh

Steinberg and his wife, Lucy, gave $22,500 a piece to the Democratic

National Committee in August 2000, following $35,000 in gifts to the

Democrats from Leigh Steinberg a month earlier.

All told, not very much, especially given that the above names

have given easily more than $100 million to the Orange County

Performing Arts Center, Opera Pacifica, South Coast Repertory and

local schools in the past few years.

An explanation? Possibly that while most folks here in

Newport-Mesa would never have wanted to dine with late House Speaker

Tip O’Neil, they certainly believe his famous pronunciation: “All

politics is local.” Or that all giving should be.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at [email protected].