The campaign of ex–Safeco Insurance lobbyist and former assemblyman Juan Vargas, now running for state senate, got $1500 on April 5 from ex–city schools superintendent Alan Bersin. The Point Loma resident was recently named head of U.S. Customs by President Barack Obama in a so-called recess appointment after the Senate Finance Committee stalled his confirmation while “trying to resolve conflicting information” about documentation and disclosure regarding his household employees, according to a statement from GOP Senator Charles Grassley. Southern Wine and Spirits of America, based in Hollywood, Florida, kicked in $2500 to the Vargas campaign on April 2, and the California Real Estate PAC (known as CREPAC) gave $7800 on April 7. … In the wake of his bitter divorce, ex–Padres owner John Moores is said to have decamped from his Rancho Santa Fe estate to spend most of his time in his home state of Texas. But if so, he apparently still has a soft spot in his heart for Jerry Brown, California’s Democratic attorney general who is running for governor. On April 9, according to state disclosure filings, Moores gave the Brown campaign a total of $39,000. In addition, a limited liability company by the name of Chula Vista 344 Office LLC gave $5000. State records show that its corporate agent is Steve Peace, the former state senator and a consultant to Moores.

Qualcomm founder Irwin Mark Jacobs and his wife Joan kicked in $20,000. Local $2500 donors included venture capitalist Ted Roth; Rancho Santa Fe biotech maven Tina Nova; and Carlsbad’s Horace Hogan II, chief operating officer of Brehm Communities. Old Town’s Café Coyote co-owner Lehn Goetz gave $8400 to front-running GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.