Republican Mass Mailer Outspends Rivals

SACRAMENTO (CN) - A company that sends out millions of glossy direct-mail campaign ads to Republican households topped a list of California's highest-spending mass mailers, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

CA Voter Guide spent $3.8 million on mailers to encourage Republicans to vote for certain candidates and ballot measures during the 2007-08 election cycle, the commission said. The Torrance-based company far outspent its nearest rival, COPS Voter Guide, a Folsom-based slate mailer organization for police officials, which spent $1.4 million.

Slate mailer organizations are typically for-profit businesses that produce mass mailings for candidates and committees, either supporting or opposing a specific candidate or ballot measure.

The top 10 organizations spent a total of more than $10.6 million during the 2007-08 cycle, according to the commission.

CA Voter Guide sends out more than 5 million mailers every election cycle, Treasurer Lee Ann Fitzgerald said. She said the company, which has been around since 1986, mails only to Republican households, though they participate in both partisan and nonpartisan elections.

She attributes the company's success to its profile and longevity. "We have been around a long time and we contract with a lot of candidates," Fitzgerald said. "Candidates know us and they want to participate in our mailers."

The group's Web site lists hundreds of current and former elected officials-from school board members to county commissioners-who have used its services.

Third on the commission's list is the Peace Officers Research Association of California, a nonprofit law-enforcement advocacy group that spent $1.1 million on the PORAC Official Law Enforcement Voter Guide.

Rounding out the list are: Democratic Voters Choice, $920,596; Save Proposition 13 Segregated Fund Account, $846,435; Your Ballot Guide, $786,442; Continuing the Republican Revolution, $611,893; Your Transportation Improvements Voter Guide, a service of Professional Engineers in CA Government, $519,025; Citizens for Good Government; $444,750; and Republican Woman's Voice, $424,191.

The commission compiled the list from public filings submitted by slate mailer organizations registered with the California Secretary of State.

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