Business Groups Gear Up to Counter Unions' Spending Clout

In the weeks leading up to last year's special election in California's 42nd District, the state's AFL-CIO spent more than $44,000 urging its members to support Democrat Joe Baca, a state senator running to succeed the late Democratic U.S. Rep. George E. Brown Jr.

The union called its members, sent them mail and visited their homes in order to turn out the labor vote. Baca won the seat, in part because of labor's efforts. The corporate business community largely backed the GOP nominee, real estate executive Elia Pirozzi. But there was no orchestrated push for his candidacy, beyond individual members of the business community writing checks to his campaign treasury.

That …