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Brown, Whitman Have $12M Each For Final Days Of Campaign

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Democrat Jerry Brown spent more money during the first two weeks of October than he has in his entire campaign for governor, but his billionaire rival still outspent him, according to campaign reports filed Thursday.

Brown spent $14.6 million to start the month, most of it on radio and television commercials. The spending spree came after a summer during which he had sought to conserve his cash.

It brings his total spending for the entire campaign so far to $25.5 million and leaves him with about $11.6 million left to spend until the Nov. 2 election.

Whitman reported spending $22.8 million for the same two-week period, bringing her total spending up to more than $162 million. That includes $142 million from her personal fortune.

Fundraising has been a question for the Brown campaign because the state attorney general faces a candidate who has a nearly bottomless bank account. Whitman's report showed that she had about $12.6 million left in her campaign account, although the former chief executive of eBay could write herself more checks.

Brown campaign manager Steve Glazer told reporters Wednesday that the Democrat has enough money for the race's final days.

"We expect to be able to match the Whitman campaign in both TV and radio," Glazer said. "We saved about $12 million for the final 13 days. We believe we'll be more than competitive."

Brown, who is popular in Democratic-leaning Hollywood, continued to collect contributions from famous names, including $25,900 from actor Warren Beatty; $25,000 from filmmaker George Lucas; $13,800 from DreamWorks movie studio found Steven Spielberg; $12,500 from Alan Horn, the president of Warner Brothers; $10,000 from Robert Iger, president of the Walt Disney Co.; and $5,000 from actress Sally Field.

He also collected $25,900 checks from Google Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and New York Giants chairman Steve Tisch. Architect Frank Gehry gave him $5,000.

Brown is still raising money. On the day he filed his campaign report, he sent e-mails to supporters asking them to contribute $12 to mark the 12 days left in the race. He has raised a total of $37 million since forming an exploratory committee last year.

Brown, who was governor from 1975 to 1983, also has benefited from more than $21.9 million in spending by unions on his behalf, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Whitman took in more than $260,000 of her donations in this period from out of state.

In addition to large contributions from bankers, insurance companies and American Indian tribes, Whitman got $25,900 from William Fry of Fry's Electronics, $25,900 from Google, $25,000 from Disney Worldwide Services, an affiliate of Disney Inc., where Whitman was once an executive, and $25,000 from NASCAR CEO Brian France. Whitman was recently the grand master at a NASCAR race in Fontana.

She also received $1,000 from the Procter & Gamble Good Government Committee—another former Whitman employer.

(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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