In the race for the new 72nd Assembly District, Westminster Councilman Tyler Diep hopped in the race in late June while Huntington Beach Councilman Matt Harper jumped in the race in mid-October.  Thus far, the money race has proved decidedly lopsided, with Diep raising nearly nine times what Harper has raised and holding nearly sixteen times the amount of cash on hand.

In the 2.5 months after he entered the race, Harper raised $15,353 and had $7,887 cash on hand (excluding $7,500 in candidate loans), as of the close of 2011.

In the first three days after he entered the race, Diep raised $50,399 and had all of it on hand, with no loans.  By the end of 2011, he had raised $137,049 and still had $129,604 cash on hand.  He had no candidate loans.

Both candidates spent remarkably similar amounts just under $7,500, though Harper spent mostly on slate mailers while Diep spent mostly on his campaign consultants at Revolvis and his treasurer, Lysa Ray.  (I’m counting a $1,350 nonmonetary contribution to Diep from the New Santa Ana Blog as part of his spending.)  However, Harper also has $14,111 in unpaid bills to his campaign consultants at Gilliard Blanning and his treasurer, David Bauer.  If those unpaid bills are included and Harper spends the money he loaned to his campaign, Harper would have $1,276 cash on hand.

For visual learners:

The two candidates’ non-Assembly accounts (Harper’s council account, Diep’s council and sanitary district accounts) are superfluous, as those accounts have a combined $800, so it doesn’t really matter if they transfer that into their accounts.

Diep currently works for Board of Equalization Member Michelle Steel and previously worked for then-Assemblyman Van Tran.  Harper currently works for OC Waste & Recycling and previously worked for Supervisor Janet Nguyen.  Harper is also a fellow blogger for OC Political.

Excluding his own contribution of $10 and a $100,000 loan to himself, Orange County Board of Education Member Long Pham raised $5.  He had $13,370 in expenses ($9,530 paid plus another $3,840 in unpaid bills), all of which are going to financial services or to his consultant, Premiere Strategies.

The two Democrats who pulled papers in this race, Albert Ayala and Joe Dovinh, did not raise enough to trigger electronic filing requirements.

The new AD-72 consists of Westminster, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Midway City, most of Garden Grove, half of Huntington Beach, and a sliver of Santa Ana.  AD-72 includes about 63,000 voters from Harper’s city and the 47,000 voters of Diep’s city.  It also includes 131,000 voters from the Huntington Beach Union High School District, where Harper was elected to three terms, and 52,000 voters from the Midway City Sanitary District, where Diep was elected to two terms.