New record set in a Yorba Linda City Council contest: most campaign contributions collected

A significant election-related record has been set in Yorba Linda that's an almost certain harbinger of the amounts of money that will be required to win positions on the city's governing body in the coming years.

The record: Most campaign contributions ever collected by a single candidate in a contest for a seat on the City Council, based on state-mandated campaign finance reports filed with City Clerk Marcia Brown by a Jan. 31 deadline.

Carlos Rodriguez put together a campaign kitty that totaled $102,722 during an eight-month period, from May 1 through Dec. 21, 2018, to win one of two council seats on the November ballot. He ran second out of three candidates, receiving 16,120 votes.

Rodriguez collected $84,731 in cash; $8,491 in in-kind contributions; and loaned his campaign $9,500. He spent $87,494 in the election, a $5.43 per-vote outlay.

According to rules set by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, candidates must list the source of each contribution of $100 or more. Rodriguez listed 121 contributions, 14 from individuals with Yorba Linda addresses and 107 from individuals, companies and committees with addresses outside of the city.

Contributions from the Yorba Linda addresses netted the campaign $7,900, while donations from addresses outside of the city totaled $76,296. Donations that were not itemized totaled $535.

The largest donation, $10,000, came from Quang To Pham of Newport Beach, a managing member of TK Properties. The Orange County Association of Deputy Sheriffs made an independent expenditure of $2,698 for robo calls, according to a separate filing.

Rodriguez is chief executive officer of the Baldy View chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California. He served one year on the Parks and Recreation Commission and was endorsed by the county Republican Party and all five council members.

Peggy Huang, who ran first to win a second term, raised $37,774; loaned her campaign $25,000; and spent $62,890 in 2018. She won a city-record 18,764 votes for a $3.35 per-vote outlay. Her 2018 reports list donations from 28 Yorba Linda addresses ($15,275) and 54 outside-the-city addresses ($22,500).

A state deputy attorney general, Huang also was endorsed by the county Republican Party and her council colleagues.

Third-place finisher Lourdes Cruz, who was raised in Yorba Linda and was endorsed by the county Democratic Party, collected $8,250 and spent $7,545. She won 10,917 votes for a per-vote outlay of 69 cents.

Recent council winners spent less than the 2018 winners: In 2012, Gene Hernandez spent $48,995, and in 2016, he spent $42,832; in 2016, Beth Haney spent $44,927; and in 2016, Tara Campbell spent $33,188, according to documents they filed with the city.

Serious contenders for the three seats on the 2020 ballot should take heed of a new campaign finance reality and carefully plot funding strategy if they want to win a council position.