Free & Equal: Taking a Closer Look at California’s Prop 14 Financial Support: Over $2.2 Million Contributions Made in Support of Top Two

As Free and Equal continues its work to defeat California’s Proposition 14, the controversial June ballot measure also known as the “Top Two Primaries Act,” we regularly monitor news, advertisements, endorsements, and contributions made from both the opposing and supporting sides.

The California Secretary of State website contains a Campaign Finance area that posts contributions made in support of the ballot measure. We have mentioned in previous communication several large contributions from big corporations, political action committees, and individual donors. This week, we decided to take a closer look at the list of contributors, crunch some numbers, and point out some interesting facts we discovered.

First, we noticed the name of the supporting committee was changed from a simple “Yes on 14 – Californians for an Open Primary” to “Yes on 14 – Californians for an Open Primary with Major Funding from Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Dream Team, a Ballot Measure Committee.”

The same Governor Schwarzenegger with a 23% approval rating according to a Field Poll published by the LA Times PolitiCal blog.

The same Governor Schwarzenegger who tried and failed to appoint the author of Proposition 14, Senator Abel Maldonado, as Lieutenant Governor.

And the same Governor Schwarzenegger who tried and failed to persuade Californians to pass Top Two in 2004.

We must admit, the Governor is determined. His ballot measure committee contributed a stunning half million dollars to support Proposition 14 last month. And now the official name of the supporting committee carries his name.

Here is a breakdown of monetary contributions as of April 13, grouped by type of funding source:

Political Action Committees and other Groups

Amount Contributor
$500,000 Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Dream Team, a Ballot Measure Committee
$250,000 California Hospitals Committee on Issues, sponsored by California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems
$205,000 California Business PAC, sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce
$100,000 California Association of Health Underwriters PAC
$10,000 POPA Inc. Special Issues Committee (Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association)
$10,000 California American Council of Engineering Companies Issues Fund
$5,000 Enterprise Holdings, Inc. Political Action Committee
$1,000 Silicon Valley Bank PAC (Federal)
$1,081,000 Total

Corporations

Amount Contributor
$100,000 Hewlett-Packard Company
$50,000 Blue Shield of California
$25,000 Pacific Life Insurance Company
$20,000 BNSF Railway Company
$20,000 Sunpower Corporation
$15,000 Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
$10,000 Webcor Construction LP
$10,000 Varian Medical Systems
$10,000 Tessera, Inc.
$10,000 Granite Construction Inc.
$10,000 David D. Bohannon Organization
$10,000 T-Bird Restaurant Group, Inc.
$10,000 Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.
$5,000 Silicon Valley Bank
$5,000 Shea Homes and Affiliated Entities
$5,000 National Semiconductor Corporation
$315,000 Total

Individual Contributors

Amount Contributor
$257,328.40 Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, Inc.
$100,000 William E. Bloomfield, Jr., retired
$100,000 Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundations
$100,000 Brian L. Harvey, president of Cypress Land Company
$50,000 William Oberndorf, investment banker at SPO Partners & Co.
$40,000 Rick J. Caruso, CEO of Caruso Affiliated Holdings
$25,000 Andrew Verhalen, Venture Investor, Matrix Partners
$24,890.80 Roger McNamee, Partner, Elevation Partners
$10,000 William Hume, Chairman, Basic American, Inc.
$10,000 Steven W. Berglund, CEO, Trimble Navigation
$10,000 Rebecca Q. Morgan, retired
$10,000 L.W. Lane Jr., retired
$10,000 Denise Watkins, retired
$10,000 Charles B. Johnson, Chairman, Franklin Resources
$10,000 Aart de Geus, CEO, Synopsys, Inc.
$7,000 Steven Miles, retired
$5,000 Tench Coxe, Managing Director, Sutter Hill Ventures
$5,000 Steven Westly, Managing Partner, The Westly Group
$5,000 Lewis N. Wolff, Owner and CEO, Wolff Urban Management
$5,000 Kim Polese, CEO, Spikesource, Inc.
$5,000 John W. Thompson, Chairman, President, and CEO, Symantec Corporation
$5,000 John Fisher, President, Pisces, Inc.
$1,000 Paul Vogel, retired
$1,000 Kenneth Wilcox, President/CEO, Silicon Valley Bank
$806,219.20 Total

As of April 13, the total contributions made public in support of Proposition 14 is $2,202,219.20, plus an additional $477,000 since Governor Schwarzenegger’s Dream Team stepped up the support with their contribution.

With the June election less than two months away, time is running out. There are several ways you can help! Become a Stop Top Two Facebook fan, suggest the Facebook page to your friends, download our new Stop Top Two flyer to distribute at events, forward this email to friends and family, and make a donation at the Stop Top Two website. Together, we can stop this measure and protect voter choice.

Protect Your Choice!

Christina Tobin

Founder, Chair

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation

reprinted with permission