Big business targeting Dymally

Business and tribal interests located far from the open Inglewood-Compton area Senate district have spent more than $715,000 in independent expenditures to elect ex-assemblyman Rod Wright over rival Mervyn Dymally, making Wright "the biggest beneficiary of outside interest money in the state this year," the Sacramento Bee reports. From Shane Goldmacher:

Despite repeated phone calls, the California Chamber of Commerce, which is tied to the PAC spending much of the funds, would not comment for this report.

The independent expenditure funds have paid for everything from polling to radio, TV and newspaper ads and what campaign filings describe as pro-Wright "ground campaign" spending. The money keeps pouring in - with another $200,000 reported from the business coalition and the real estate industry on Tuesday.

Dymally, who had reported raising more than $660,000 from 2007 to March 2008, has scrambled to compete, collecting another $200,000 in direct contributions in the last two months.

Most of the pro-Wright money came through a committee called the Alliance for California Tomorrow, which in turn, received money many of the biggest business interest in the state.

Top donors include the real estate industry ($150,000), Sempra ($100,000), Anthem Blue Cross ($50,000) and Philip Morris ($45,000). The committee received more than $300,000 from another business-backed political action committee, JOBS-PAC, which has ties to the California Chamber of Commerce.

Dymally is currently the assemblyman from the area, and has held just about every other post including lieutenant governor.