Tom Campbell hits up GOP rival Carly Fiorina for campaign donation

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From our You Never Know Until You Ask Files, Carly Fiorina got a most unexpected e-mail from Bay Area venture capitalist William Oberndorf -- an invitation to contribute money to her rival for the state’s Republican U.S. Senate nomination, former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell. Oberndorf is the finance chairman of Campbell’s campaign, but he apparently didn’t bother to carefully scrub the campaign e-mail list closely before asking for donations.

The Oberndorf solicitation, with the subject line “Exciting Opportunity for CA in the U.S. Senate,” was part of a bulk e-mail request from Campbell’s campaign.

Campbell “is a tried-and-true fiscal conservative who understands the perils of deficit spending. He is also a social moderate who supports such issues as the right of women to choose,” the e-mail says.

Speaking of Campbell’s fundraising, Campbell has brought on Kristin Hueter, who heads gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s Bay Area fundraising, to help raise money for his campaign. Unfortunately, we won’t know how successful her efforts will be until April. That’s the first time Campbell’s Senate campaign will be required to file fundraising and campaign spending reports with the Federal Election Commission.

Fiorina and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), who is also in the race, filed their reports earlier this week. Incumbent Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who is defending her U.S. Senate seat, also released her campaign finance reports Friday afternoon.

And just in case you were wondering, Fiorina’s campaign said the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, who recently loaned her own campaign $2.5 million, has no intention of donating to Campbell.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento