Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Even Before Del Mar Track Opens, San Diego Politicos Off and Running for Its Campaign Cash

Next Wednesday the Del Mar track opens for the season, and amongst the fillies and big-hatted socialites on display, there will likely be more than a few state and local politicos.

It's been that way for years, ever since the 1950s, when crooked Hollywood moguls, mobsters, Texas oil titans, and the F.B.I.'s J. Edgar Hoover convened at the seaside track each summer, placing bets and conducting covert business.

Compared to that glorious heyday, the contemporary political stakes appear to be a lot smaller, but still signficant enough for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, current proprietors of the grand racing emporium, to have spent $41,400 during the first half of this year greasing the campaign palms of a host of state legislators and the governor.

Gov. Jerry Brown - whose father, the late California Gov. Pat Brown, once used the track as a political playground - got $5,000 from the club in February of this year for his 2014 re-election bid, according to the track's campaign finance report, filed yesterday.

Democratic Assemblywoman Toni Atkins collected $1,000, as did her colleague Marty Block's 2012 state senate campaign.

Their fellow Assembly Democrat Ben Hueso got $500.

Termed-out state Democratic Sen. Christine Kehoe, deeply enmeshed in the complicated political intrigue that has accompanied the thus far failed effort by the city of Del Mar to buy the fairgrounds where the track stands, got $500 for her 2016 Assembly campaign committee.

And Juan Vargas, now regarded as a virtual shoo-in for Congress after beating fellow Democrat Denise Ducheny in last month's primary, got $1,000 this April for his 2010 state senate campaign cookie jar.

Then there was GOP Assemblyman Martin Garrick, still trying to live down last year's DUI bust in the capitol garage, who picked up $500 for his own 2014 state senate effort.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

More on San Diego inventions – Spike Bite and disappearing ink

The scandal of county supervisors at the library

Next Wednesday the Del Mar track opens for the season, and amongst the fillies and big-hatted socialites on display, there will likely be more than a few state and local politicos.

It's been that way for years, ever since the 1950s, when crooked Hollywood moguls, mobsters, Texas oil titans, and the F.B.I.'s J. Edgar Hoover convened at the seaside track each summer, placing bets and conducting covert business.

Compared to that glorious heyday, the contemporary political stakes appear to be a lot smaller, but still signficant enough for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, current proprietors of the grand racing emporium, to have spent $41,400 during the first half of this year greasing the campaign palms of a host of state legislators and the governor.

Gov. Jerry Brown - whose father, the late California Gov. Pat Brown, once used the track as a political playground - got $5,000 from the club in February of this year for his 2014 re-election bid, according to the track's campaign finance report, filed yesterday.

Democratic Assemblywoman Toni Atkins collected $1,000, as did her colleague Marty Block's 2012 state senate campaign.

Their fellow Assembly Democrat Ben Hueso got $500.

Termed-out state Democratic Sen. Christine Kehoe, deeply enmeshed in the complicated political intrigue that has accompanied the thus far failed effort by the city of Del Mar to buy the fairgrounds where the track stands, got $500 for her 2016 Assembly campaign committee.

And Juan Vargas, now regarded as a virtual shoo-in for Congress after beating fellow Democrat Denise Ducheny in last month's primary, got $1,000 this April for his 2010 state senate campaign cookie jar.

Then there was GOP Assemblyman Martin Garrick, still trying to live down last year's DUI bust in the capitol garage, who picked up $500 for his own 2014 state senate effort.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Insurance Lobby Throws Washington, D.C. Fundraiser for Juan Vargas

Next Article

Sempra Energy gave out more than $1.2 million in California political cash through June

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader