Two buck political trend that money ensures victory

June Casagrande and Deirdre Newman

Money isn’t everything. Just ask Newport Beach City Council

also-ran Bernie Svalstad. Or former Costa Mesa Mayor Linda Dixon. Or

the city’s Planning Commission Chairwoman, Katrina Foley.

Campaign finance statements filed last week hold Svalstad’s

campaign as the greatest evidence that the person with the most

expensive campaign doesn’t necessarily win the race.

Svalstad spent $58,389 in 2002 for his City Council campaign,

compared to opponent Dick Nichols’ $11,089. And though preliminary

vote counts on election night showed Svalstad with a slight lead, by

the time that half the precincts reported, the race was basically

over. Nichols had 46% to Svalstad’s 43% -- a lead Svalstad would not

recover. Laura Dietz, the third candidate in Svalstad’s District 6

race, commanded the remaining 11% of the vote. Dietz spent $11,402

for her campaign.

“It’s not all about money,” Svalstad said. “In my race, there was

a third candidate and that’s what did it.” Nichols was out of town

and could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

In the race for Costa Mesa City Council, Dixon outspent challenger

Allan Mansoor by more than a three to one margin. But Mansoor ended

up ousting the mayor on a shoestring campaign budget.

Mansoor spent about $10,000 on his entire campaign, while Dixon

spent about $35,000. Mansoor attributed his win to grass-root

support, which he said made up for the lack of green in fund-raising.

“That’s what I was able to raise, therefore that’s what I spent,”

Mansoor said. “You know when you’re a start-up candidate running for

office for the first time, you usually don’t have as many advantages

as other candidates. Grass roots support really helped me out.”

Dixon said she did not regret shelling out so much on her

re-election campaign and blamed low voter turnout for her loss.

“There isn’t a thing I would have done differently except

encourage more people to get out and vote,” Dixon said. “It’s

unfortunate that so many people are so patriotic and feel so strongly

for this country but they don’t practice voting.”

The disparity in spending between the two was magnified for the

last filing period, due Friday, which covered Oct. 20 to Dec. 31.

Mansoor spent a meager $260 compared to Dixon’s whopping $19,729.

During those final weeks, Foley spent $5,770, while raising

$13,592. She raised and spent nearly $34,000 for the year.

Mansoor said he had already exhausted his campaign chest by late

October, while Dixon was still seeking exposure through commercials

and signs.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected]. JUNE CASAGRANDE

covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at [email protected].