No matter which of the four declared and all-but-declared gubernatorial candidates wins next year, one company will have an inside track to the winner.
That company is California Strategies, one of the state's biggest public affairs consulting firms, with 20 partners in seven cities from both major parties.
At least four of the company's principals and associates are supporting one of the candidates, all in a free-of-charge, advisory role, said Jason Kinney, a principal and spokesman for the firm.
That arrangement means advisers to competing candidates sometimes work in the same office, Kinney said.
"It reflects the political diversity of our firm, and it reflects the interesting nature of this race, which is a lot of interesting candidates from diverse backgrounds," Kinney said. "When it comes to our common client interest, we work together but we also respect our personal political firewalls."
Longtime Democratic strategist Darry Sragow said such high-level access is an important selling point for consulting firms.
"At the end of the day, they want to have someone senior at the firm who can say to potential clients, I'm close with the governor or the chief of staff," Sragow said. "That access or perception of access is a critical ingredient in the lobbying business or consulting business."
The connections at California Strategies start at the top with firm Chairman Bob White advising Republican Meg Whitman, Kinney said. White was a longtime ally of Whitman campaign Chairman Pete Wilson, serving as his chief of staff when Wilson was first San Diego mayor, then U.S. senator and, later, California governor.
Former Assemblyman Rusty Areias, a partner at California Strategies, said he's supporting Democrat Jerry Brown, who has yet to announce his candidacy, and is organizing a fundraiser for Brown. Areias said he's known Brown since the 1970s. Brown spokesman Steven Glazer called Areias a "longtime friend of Jerry Brown and supporter."
"They're relationships that go way back," Areias said. "It's the nature of it. There's nothing contrived about it."
Former Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte, a principal at California Strategies, is chairman of Republican Steve Poizner's campaign.
Former Assemblyman Jim Cunneen, another principal at the firm, is advising Republican Tom Campbell. Cunneen was a top aide to Campbell when Campbell was in Congress.
Such political cross-currents aren't unusual in Sacramento, although it's not every day that one consulting firm gets involved with all of the gubernatorial candidates from both major parties.
Kinney himself was an unpaid supporter of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who dropped his gubernatorial bid last month. Another California Strategies partner, Garry South, was a paid Newsom consultant.
Call Jack Chang, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5543.
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