Carly Fiorina Can't Count on Old Company for Campaign Cash

Hewlett-Packard's political action committee gives thousands to incumbent

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore may be behind in all the polls and fundraising in the Republican primary to elect a challenger to Senator Barbara Boxer, but he can count on one high-profile donor: Arianna Packard, granddaughter of Hewlett-Packard cofounder David Packard.

It's not good news for former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, who's ahead of DeVore in the polls but behind recent addition to the race Tom Campbell, and regularly cites her experience and accomplishments as a businesswoman in interviews and speeches on the campaign trail.

Packard is the daughter of David Woodley Packard, who fought Fiorina's acquisition of Compaq, a decision which played a role in Fiorina being fired by HP's board of directors in 2005.

But that's not the only snub from associates of HP -- the company's political action committee has donated $10,000 to Boxer, with $3,000 coming in October shortly before Fiorina's official campaign announcement in November.

Annual campaign finance summaries for 2009 are due for both state and federal elections today. DeVore has already filed, while Fiorina has not.

Campbell won't have to release numbers for his senate campaign until after the first quarter, as he entered the race just this month, but his gubernatorial campaign filings should give a good idea toward how much cash he had to carry over.

Jackson West does love to root around in campaign finance databases.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us