Republican state Senator Joel Anderson, prevented by county ordinance from raising money from the PACs and corporations upon which he has historically relied, finds himself struggling to match the broad-based fundraising success of Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
That, say close watchers of local politics, leaves Anderson with one avenue to tap: the support of independent expenditure committees.
These committees cannot contribute directly to candidates. They can, however, spend limitless sums on advertisements on their behalf. And they can raise unlimited amounts of money from the same PAC and corporate donors that county law prohibits from donating to county supervisorial candidates.
One local political consultant says Anderson is probably already laying the groundwork for such a campaign.
