If raising campaign money translates into votes, the race for 3rd District supervisor in Santa Barbara County may go down to the wire between two of the five candidates.

Narrowing the financial lead Doreen Farr had Jan. 1, candidate David Smyser has since raised $76,834 in cash contributions, compared to $58,657 for Farr, according to finance statements filed this week with the county Elections Division.

Smyser, a former county planning commissioner and former Solvang mayor, reported having $88,571 in his campaign war chest as of March 17. That compares with $71,062 campaign cash on hand for Farr of Solvang, a community activist who also formerly served on the county Planning Commission while living in Goleta.

When the campaign money they received during 2007 is added to this year's totals, though, Farr is still the front-runner in fund raising. She's collected about $152,000 so far, compared to nearly $132,000 for Smyser.

None of the other three candidates for the 3rd District seat was even close to those totals.

Supervisor Brooks Firestone, who represents that district, decided to retire when his term runs out at the end of this year, and five people have filed to replace him. The candidates will be on the June 3 ballot.

The sprawling district includes Isla Vista, near the UC Santa Barbara campus, parts of the Goleta area and the Santa Ynez Valley, extending to Vandenberg Air Force Base. It traditionally has been the “swing vote” on the five-member board of supervisors, shifting political power either to the more liberal South Coast or the more conservative North County.

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As an indication of the political importance that many donors see in that race, far less campaign money is being raised in the 4th District battle between incumbent Supervisor Joni Gray and challenger John Sterling of Lompoc, a former Santa Maria police chief.

Gray reported cash contributions totaling $6,509 so far this year, compared to $4,285 for Sterling.

Billionaires with homes in the Santa Barbara area were among the biggest donors for both Smyser and Farr. He got $5,000 from investments mogul Harold Simmons of Dallas, Texas. Farr got $6,000 from Peter Sperling, senior vice president of Apollo Industries, which owns the online, for-profit University of Phoenix.

Other big contributions to Smyser this year included $5,000 from Patrick M. Nesbitt, a lawyer who has fought frequent legal battles with the county over land uses on his Summerland estate. Smyser also got $5,000 each from Philip R. Taylor of Atherton, who's in real estate, and Brian T. Prinn, a Corona del Mar investor.

Farr, meanwhile, got donations of $5,000 apiece from Dan Emmett of Santa Monica, co-founder of Douglas Emmett Realty Advisors; Tad Buchanan, founder of Woodside Partners LLC, a development company based in Santa Barbara; and developer Wayne Siemens of Santa Barbara.

Her next biggest donor was Alice Gillaroo of Santa Ynez, a retired social worker who is now self-employed and made contributions totaling $3,000.

Steve Pappas, a Los Olivos businessman also vying for the 3rd District seat, reported raising $31,230 in cash contributions since Jan. 1. That left him with $20,571 in the campaign bank as of March 17, according to his finance statement.

The biggest contributions he has received this year were $10,000 apiece from Anne V. Crawford-Hall Enterprises, headed by rancher and newspaper publisher Nancy Crawford-Hall, and from Los Olivos veterinarian and community activist Doug Herthel.

Although the deadline for submitting the finance statements was Monday, candidate Dr. David Bearman of Goleta has yet to file one. He said he expects it to be filed by today.

“My treasurer was derelict, but we're going to get it in as soon as we can,” he added. “We're not hiding anything.”

Bearman estimated he has raised about $10,000 for his campaign since the start of the year, including a $5,000 donation from singer David Crosby, who lives in the Santa Ynez Valley.

The fewest donations, totaling $1,399, were collected by the newest candidate in the 3rd District race, Victoria Pointer, a member of the Buellton City Council since 1992. “I haven't even hit the $2,000 mark yet,” she said.

Her biggest donor so far is her mother, who contributed $500, Pointer said.

Pappas also got $5,000 apiece from businessman Mark Herthel of Solvang and rancher Frederic Steck of Los Olivos.

Chuck Schultz can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2241, or cschultz@santamariatimes.com.

March 28, 2008