Phil Matier: Kashkari Spends $500,000 Out of Pocket for Campaign Ads
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari is ponying up $500,000 of his own money and launching his first television ads of the campaign.
Kashkari has picked up several high-profile endorsements, but so far, they haven't been able to help him gain any traction against GOP rival Tim Donnelly.
It's a long way until November when the final votes are tallied for whoever runs against Governor Jerry Brown in the race. However, it is the opening day for the primaries in June where you can start voting by mail. It's an option that has become increasingly popular with voters.
In his new add, Kashkari certainly comes out swinging. I got a bit of a kick out of it. He's swinging an axe and talking about cutting (spending of course). He talks about stopping the "crazy train" of course he's referring to California's High-speed rail train.
As I said, he's got the big endorsements from Jeb Bush, Pete Wilson and Mitt Romney, which makes sense because of his conservative-moderate background in the party as a banking aid in the Treasury Department.
The California Republican Party is very conservative, but it will take more than just some ads to defeat Brown and the Democrats. Kashkari is certainly getting some attention with how he's spending his cash.