Cash Doesn't Always Equal Votes, Warns Professor McDaniel

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- Cash doesn’t always equal votes, warned San Francisco State University Political Science Professor Jason McDaniel. He said it usually is the deciding factor under three circumstances: if the candidate is not well known by voters, if there are no obvious partisan differences between the candidates or if one candidate vastly outspends the other. He said spending 2 or 2½ times your opponent — as Chiu’s side has been able to do — doesn’t really count as vastly outspending the other side, but it could help. Much of the money spent on both candidates by independent groups has gone toward attacks on the other candidate, such as mailers accusing Chiu of supporting antiabortion and antigay positions because a business he co-founded did work for the GOP, or fliers saying Campos sides with Big Oil because he voted for a clean-energy program that included a contract with Shell.