Prop. 8 opponents take lead in money race

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer

A tsunami of new money has poured into the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, as Hollywood celebrities, deep-pocketed donors and thousands of people from across the country wrote checks to block the proposed ban on same-sex marriage in California.

"If they keep raising money at this rate and our supporters don't respond, (Prop. 8 opponents) will blow past us in money raised," said Chip White, a spokesman for the Prop. 8 campaign. "They will beat us in paid advertising and beat us on election day."

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, the closing date for the latest state financial report, opponents of the same-sex marriage ban raised more than $12 million, compared with $2.5 million for Prop. 8 backers. Both sides had about $7 million in the bank for the final push to the Nov. 4 election, which is plenty of money for strong TV ad campaigns.

"The last few weeks (of fundraising) have been absolutely incredible and there's no sign of it letting up," said Steve Smith, campaign consultant for the "No on Prop. 8" effort. "We're really feeling good about the way the campaign is looking right now."

By Oct. 18, the campaigns had raised a combined $56 million, nearly evenly split between the two sides. In the week since, Prop. 8 opponents have collected an additional $3.6 million, compared with $800,000 for foes of same-sex marriage.

The battle over Prop. 8 already has become the most expensive social-issue election in the history of the country, said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.

"There's true commitment and intense feelings on both sides," he said. "Almost all these donations are from people, not from companies or corporations."

When polls earlier this month showed increasing backing for the same-sex marriage ban, support surged for Prop. 8 opponents.

"We'd had a number of good polls that had made people fairly complacent," Smith said. "There's no question that when this tightened up, it ignited our donor base."

Jon Stryker, a Kalamazoo, Mich., billionaire, gave $1 million. The California Teachers Association added $1 million, bringing its total contribution to $1.3 million. Hollywood notables like comedian Ellen DeGeneres, director George Lucas and actor T.R. Knight gave $100,000 each. The state Democratic Party gave $100,000, as did the service employees union.

In the week since the most recent filing period ended, Hollywood producer Steven Bing has dropped $500,000 into the campaign, Cleveland philanthropist David Maltz has added $100,000 to the $1 million he has already given and James Hormel of San Francisco gave another $100,000. Apple Computer and Sergey Brin, president of Google, each gave $100,000.

Most of the recent donations for Prop. 8 have come in smaller contributions, although the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal group, has given an additional $150,000, boosting its total donation to $1.4 million.

Meanwhile, there's plenty of nastiness on both sides in the final days of the campaign. ProtectMarriage.com, the group behind the Prop. 8 effort, sent letters to businesses that have given money to the opposition campaign, warning them that they will be publicly identified as supporters of same-sex marriage unless they contribute to the pro-Prop. 8 effort as well.

The effort is at least partially in response to efforts by Prop. 8 opponents to boycott businesses owned or run by backers of the same-sex marriage ban.

Money also is flowing into other propositions on the November ballot.

The biggest contributor in the latest financial filings was Clean Energy, a Seal Beach (Orange County) company that gave $12 million to Prop. 10, which would approve $5 billion in bonds, much of it to provide state subsidies to people who buy alternative-fuel vehicles. T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman who is behind Prop. 10, also owns Clean Energy, which has given $15.7 million to the campaign.

The campaign for Prop. 11, which would take redistricting power from the Legislature and give it to a 14-member citizen's commission, has raised about $12 million and has about $1.9 million in the bank and almost $1.3 million in unpaid bills. Opponents, led by the California Democratic Party and public employee unions, have collected just under $1 million, with $2,697 in the bank and $269,000 in unpaid bills.