Kamala Harris set off her campaign for attorney general last year with a certain up-and-comer buzz in Democratic Party circles.
Barack Obama summoned Harris as his stand-in at the state Democratic convention. She made his California campaign pitch to delegates to counter a fellow named Bill Clinton, who was there raising the roof on behalf of candidate Hillary Clinton.
But what Harris didn't have was money. At the end of last year, the San Francisco District Attorney had but $117,000 in her attorney general's campaign account. That was well short of the $700,000 and $650,000, respectively, that Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, and Assembly Majority leader Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, had hoarded in legislative accounts for potential A.G. runs.
Neither Torrico nor Lieu has released his latest fundraising totals, but Harris appears to have significantly outstripped them in the race for cash since the first of the year.
Today team Harris announced she has raked in $1.2 million in donations between the start of the year and the June 30 quarterly filing deadline.
Harris got the maximum $6,500 donation from fellow Obama campaign alum Kevin Johnson, who happens to be the mayor of Sacramento, and also took in the max from Esprit Clothing co-founder Susie Tompkins Buell, the former presidential fundraising rainmaker for Hillary Clinton.
Harris is also drawing key support from the entertainment community, including donations from Oscar-winner actor Sean Pean of "Milk," television star Eric Dane of "Grey's Anatomy," Warner Brothers executive producer Charles Lorre, former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing and Jo Schuman, producer of the musical revue, "Beach Blanket Babylon." of "
Torrico, meanwhile, is drawing strong support from Indian tribes and police and firefighter unions. Since January, he received $6,500 each from the Viejas tribal government, the Lytton Rancheria and the Paskenta Band of Nomaki Indians, plus $6,500 each from the San Jose Police Officers PAC, the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County and Fremont Professional Firefighters PAC, as well as $5,800 from the California Professional Firefighters Association.
Lieu has taken in max donations from the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and the Asian Americans for Good Government PAC. He is also drawing significant contributions from health industry interests, including the Emergency Medical PAC of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Anthem Blue Cross and Central Health MSO Inc.
Former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who raised $5 million in an unsuccessful primary run against Jerry Brown in 2006, also hasn't released fundraising totals for the 2010 race. But state records show Delgadillo took in $373,000 in contributions of $5,000 or more since January, including $6,500 each from the Pala Band of Mission Indians and the Paskenta tribe and a max donation from homebuilder Eli Broad.