Sacramento Bee: Democrat Developer pumps $100K to Simmons

Angelo K. Tsakopoulos gives to Placer County supervisorial hopeful.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga and Niesha Lofing -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 12:01 am PDT Thursday, June 1, 2006

In one of the biggest single contributions ever given in a local race, Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, the region's largest developer, has given $100,000 to the campaign of a Republican candidate for supervisor in Placer County.

Tsakopoulos is Sacramento's most prolific campaign contributor to Democrats on the local, state and national level, so his involvement in the effort by conservative Republican Jerry Simmons to unseat three-term Republican Supervisor Robert Weygandt has drawn notice in Placer County.

The two Republican candidates have been raising record amounts of money for the District 2 seat in southwestern Placer County for Tuesday's election.


Angelo K. Tsakopoulos has been supporting Simmons from behind the scenes for months, but his contribution Tuesday -- reported to elections officials Wednesday -- brought that support into the open. It is by far the largest contribution either candidate has received in the race.
"It's just stunning," said Ken Campbell, former chairman of the Placer County Republican Party. "Tsakopoulos has bought a candidate, and now he's trying to buy an election."

Tsakopoulos did not respond to a Bee request for comment Wednesday. Last week, he declined to comment on his role in the Weygandt-Simmons contest.

But Simmons said Wednesday he asked Tsakopoulos for the money to match funds flowing to Weygandt from the United Auburn Indian Community, operators of Thunder Valley Casino outside Lincoln. As of Friday, the tribe had donated $79,000 to Weygandt over the past two years: $50,000 of that money came in a single donation last week.

"When I saw that Thunder Valley Casino had given Robert Weygandt more than $80,000 to fund his campaign, I realized I would be significantly outspent if I didn't do some fundraising in the final week of my campaign, so I called Angelo Tsakopoulos and asked him to make a contribution," Simmons said.

Last week, Simmons told The Bee that he was unaware that the Tsakopoulos family was providing him with financial support, despite his campaign having received more than $100,000 from numerous friends and business associates of Tsakopoulos, some as far away as Chicago and New York City.

For the past week or so, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, Angelo's son, has also been appearing in cable television ads criticizing Weygandt. Those ads were produced by Tsakopoulos independently of the Simmons' campaign. Kyriakos Tsakopoulos manages his father's land holdings in Placer County.

Local political consultants said that a $100,000 single contribution -- while it may not be record-breaking -- is large for a local supervisors race. Placer County has no contribution limits. In Sacramento County, individuals are limited to donations of $500 to candidates for the Board of Supervisors.

"I can't recall the last supervisorial campaign where a $100,000 contribution has been donated to a candidate," said Carlos Rodriguez, a longtime Republican political consultant in Newcastle.

"In any campaign, whether it's a local supervisorial race or a Congressional race, a $100,000 contribution has always been the exception rather than the rule," he said.

For Tsakopoulos, however, the donation to Simmons is minor compared to the millions of dollars he is currently spending to promote the gubernatorial candidacy of his former employee and protégé Phil Angelides, a Democrat.

Tsakopoulos and his daughter Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis have spent $8.7 million on an advertising effort on Angelides' behalf.

Angelides' opponent in the Democratic primary, state Controller Steve Westly, claims that Tsakopoulos has violated state election laws, and on Wednesday sent a letter to the state Fair Political Practices Commission asking it to take immediate action. Westly maintains that the family's independent expenditures on Angelides' behalf are not independent. Ben Davidian, a lawyer for the family, denies there has been any coordination with the Angelides campaign.

In Placer County, last-minute infusions of campaign cash could help Weygandt and Simmons pay for television ads and allow them to continue blanketing local voters with mailers. Weygandt reported raising $326,480 as of Friday. Simmons reported several other significant late contributions Wednesday, bringing his total to $350,790.

Weygandt said he was not surprised to learn of Tsakopoulos' donation.

"It's just an affirmation of what we've known forever," he said.

Weygandt said he was warned even before he announced his intention to run for a fourth term that the Tsakopoulos family intended to try to defeat him.

He and other local officials say Tsakopoulos blamed him for his failure to win quick county approval of his plans to donate land west of Roseville for a private university and adjacent development. Profits from a development next to the university would pay for its construction.

Weygandt, 54, said he supports a private university, but considers the land offered by Tsakopoulos an "imperfect site." The property borders thousands of acres of farmland also controlled by Angelo K. Tsakopoulos. Critics have long charged the university is a ploy to eventually open that land to growth.

Simmons, however, has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Tsakopoulos plan. Last year, he served as campaign chairman for Measure H, an advisory measure asking voters if they approved of the idea of building a private university on donated land. It passed with 61 percent of the vote.

"It's clear that I'm the pro-education candidate, and that the Tsakopoulos family and I share a common vision of constructing a new private, four-year university in Placer County," Simmons said Wednesday.

Simmons, 32, is president of the Sierra Joint Community College District board.

His tenure has been stormy. His leadership has been questioned by faculty and staff, and a group of Placer County leaders Tuesday announced a recall effort. Simmons and Aaron Klein, another trustee targeted for removal, say the recall is a politically motivated effort to keep Simmons from beating Weygandt at the polls.