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Bustamante, Davis Depend on Many of the Same Donors He was, for example, one of 42 Assembly members listed as coauthors of the 1996 legislation that shaped deregulation of California's electricity industry. In 1996, Bustamante accepted $35,000 from utilities in the state, including Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. In 1998, as he campaigned to become lieutenant governor, Bustamante accepted $10,125 from Houston energy firm Enron, campaign finance reports show. After the energy crisis hit California hard in 2001, Bustamante began accepting significantly less money from energy interests. He also filed a lawsuit against major energy companies. The lawyers he selected to represent him in the suit are among his donors, having given him $12,500. "He is playing both sides of the street," said Gary Ackerman, executive director of the Western Power Forum, which represents buyers and sellers of electricity. Bustamante accepted $79,500 from the tobacco industry early in his career, including $60,000 after he had been elected speaker. In 1993, he voted against legislation that banned smoking in restaurants and bars. As speaker in 1997, Bustamante pressed for legislation to delay a ban on smoking in bars; the bill failed. Later in 1997, as he began mounting his campaign for lieutenant governor, Bustamante introduced legislation that opened the way for California to join the nationwide lawsuit brought by states against the tobacco industry. As lieutenant governor, Bustamante has little power to benefit donors. But the office does bring prestige. One of Bustamante's major donors is a chain of stores called Duty Free Americas Inc., which has given him $137,500 since 1999. Bustamante was a featured guest at the 2000 opening of the company's store in San Ysidro. Representatives of the firm did not respond to a call from The Times. Bustamante also lent the weight of his office to the Hollywood secession effort last year. Secession advocate Eugene La Pietra, one of Davis' longtime donors, is also a Bustamante contributor, having given him $10,000 last October, four months after Bustamante's endorsement. "I'm a lifelong Democrat and I support all Democrats," La Pietra said Wednesday. Bustamante's main campaign strategist is Democratic consultant Richie Ross, who has a lobbying business. Ross' clients have been significant donors to Bustamante. Trial lawyers, two Indian tribes that operate casinos, and attorneys who represent injured workers combined have donated more than $430,000 to the lieutenant governor. Bustamante said Wednesday that he can keep his distance from Ross: "I trust his judgment. But we also have a unique pact between us. The pact is that not all of his friends need to be my friends, and not all of my friends need to be his. And when I think he's wrong, I tell him. And when I think he's not giving me good advice, I don't follow it." Under California campaign finance law, Bustamante cannot accept donations of more than $21,200 from individual contributors. But donors may spend unlimited sums on his behalf, as long as the candidate himself does not control those expenditures. And many of his donors have deep pockets. California's Indian tribes are among the most likely sources of big money. Bustamante was "one of the pioneers in collecting money" from tribes that operate casinos, said Jim Knox, director of California Common Cause, which issued a report in 2000 on campaign donations from gambling interests.
In his 1998 run for lieutenant governor, four of Bustamante's top five donors were Indian tribes, Knox said.
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