Leno, Nation trade blows on support from corporate interests

With a week until voters in the San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma areas head to the polls in the race for the District 3 state Senate seat, Democratic primary rivals Mark Leno and Joe Nation are hammering each other on what both candidates say has been their opponent’s closeness with corporate interests.

In a Friday release blasted out to reporters, the Leno campaign names the independent expenditure groups working on Nation’s behalf, including the Civil Justice Association of California, the Cooperative of American Physicians, Californians Allied for Patient Protection, and Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy. The Leno campaign says that each of the groups oppose health care reform and aim to limit corporate liability.

The broadside earned a sharp-tongued response from the Nation side. “This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black,” said Nation adviser Jim Ross, who argued that Leno had accepted contributions from special interests in the banking and energy sectors, including Wells Fargo, Visa, and Migrant.

The Leno release came just hours after the Nation campaign announced the launch of a 60-second radio advertisement hitting Leno, a state Assemblyman, for taking money from Indian casino interests and for not working to stop plans to build a casino in Rohnert Park. “(Nation’s) opponents have taken tens of thousands of dollars in donations in gambling money and have given up, saying ‘we can’t stop the casino,’” an announcer says in the ad.

And on Monday, the Nation side blasted Leno for contributions from the adult entertainment and pharmaceutical industries.

Leno and Nation are challenging Democratic incumbent Carole Migden in the primary.