SAN FRANCISCO — John Chiang’s bid to become California Controller and the first Asian American to hold statewide office since Insurance Commissioner Harry Low in 2002 is in the last five weeks.
Chiang recently spent a weekend campaigning and raising money in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Torrance resident was seeking support from Asian Americans for Good Government in San Jose, in the home of Andrew Sun and California Democratic Party vice chair Alicia Wang and law offices of Minami, Lew and Tamaki in San Francisco.
However, Chiang — a nine-year member of the Board of Equalization representing Los Angeles — won’t be seen on television ads in the Bay Area or his home turf in Los Angeles. “Frankly, these democratic areas would bleed any campaign dry in terms of money,” he said.
Blanketing television ads in these areas with large Asian American and democratic bases would cost him $7 million. His statewide campaign goal is to raise at least $2.5 million and ideally $4 million to persuade 16 million voters in California this November.
“We’re going to be in the battleground areas. … It’s a 90% television campaign,” he said, describing his political itinerary of Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Chico and Redding, Central Valley locales like Fresno and Bakersfield. On one Sunday, he was in Livingston, meeting with peach and yam farmers.
Chiang’s election chances and fundraising will also be helped by democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides’ coattails. In recent polls, Angelides has trailed incumbent republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Chiang himself in an August Field Poll had an 11-point lead, but with one-third undecided in his race against republican Assemblyman Tony Strickland of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
“A lot of it is dictated by the top of the ticket [governor]. … If Phil runs a competitive race, then more money from national organizations will come into California,” he said. “[But] democrats have a limited pot of money. A lot of it is going to House races across the country,” he said.