IECs make final push for Strickland in SD-19

In the final week of the campaign, eight different outside groups combined to spend almost $600,000 to get Republican Tony Strickland elected in the 19th state Senate District.

Most of the heavy lifting was done by some familiar faces. Californians for Jobs and Education spent more than $378,000 alone, including $120,000 on an ad attacking Strickland's Democratic opponent Hannah-Beth Jackson. In addition, the Cooperative of American Physicians spent almost $50,000 for Strickland, and the California Apartment Association dropped another $28,000 on the district.

There were also some new players that emerged in the last week of the campaign. The political action committee of the watchdog group TaxpayersAdvocate.org spent $21,000 helping Strickland's candidacy, while the California Citizens for Ethics in Government made a splash with $88,361 in independent expenditures.

The only outside spending helping Jackson's cause came from the California Alliance, a coalition of consumer attorneys, conservationists and nurses that spent $55,821 attacking Strickland last week.

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