Conventional political wisdom says a first-time candidate must prove his fund-raising abilities in his home district before out-of-state benefactors open their wallets. But Lynn Swann, the former football player who is running for Pennsylvania's top office despite virtually no political experience, doesn't abide by conventional wisdom.

From the moment his election committee, Team 88, began accepting campaign contributions, Mr. Swann, a Republican candidate for governor, has been recruiting some of his biggest donors from California, where he went to college and where his parents still live. (Mildred and Willie Swann both contributed, incidentally.)

At the end of December, by which time Mr. Swann's campaign had raised $1.6 million, $240,000 had come from California, much of it in big chunks.

Frederick Hitchcock, an automotive dealer and one of the top political donors in the state, contributed $25,000. B. Wayne Hughes, millionaire philanthropist and founder of the Public Storage Co., gave $30,000. Investment broker Elliott Broidy gave $7,500. Several California investment bankers and real estate brokers gave $5,000 each.

Mr. Swann didn't officially announce his candidacy until January, but he'd been laying the groundwork since 2004, and collecting money since last year.

"Our biggest focus, obviously, is going to be Pennsylvania," said Melissa Walters, spokeswoman for Mr. Swann's campaign. "But to raise the amount of money we'll need to raise to beat Rendell, we'll need to be raising money across the country."

Out-of-district contributions can become a political liability, if an opponent chooses to exploit it, but in big-money races, out-of-state cash is not an unusual feature.

In the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary between Gov. Ed Rendell and current state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., both candidates raised about a quarter of their money from out of state. Mr. Casey reaped a windfall from labor organizations, while Mr. Rendell exploited a bevy of contacts from his year as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

For the 2006 race, Mr. Rendell also has scored big checks from out-of-state donors -- $12,500 from Florida's Bennett S. Lebow, a prominent businessman and philanthropist; $25,000 from New York's Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz law firm; $10,000 from Nicholas Masucci, a New Jersey transportation analyst; and $10,000 from Sallie Mae, a Virginia-based student loan giant that in 2004 made a surprising $1 billion bid to take over the assets of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

But while out-of-state donors are common, and vital, what is uncommon in Mr. Swann's case is the concentration of money from California and the fund-raising apparatus he already has in place there, despite his political inexperience.

"Lynn is just a neophyte in the business," said Bill Green, a Pennsylvania political analyst and consultant. "And all of the sudden, he gets a quarter-million dollars from people who don't even live here."

Mr. Swann's years and contacts in the entertainment industry -- he has worked for ABC as a sportscaster and he's been in movies -- appear to have served him well. Some of his California donors are Hollywood types.

Craig Haffner, a top official at Greystone Films, contributed $1,000. Frank Marshall, a producer and director at Kennedy Marshall Co., contributed another $1,000. Frank Price, a one-time president of Columbia Pictures and a trustee at Mr. Swann's alma mater, the University of Southern California, donated $1,000. Screenwriter and "General Hospital" actress Gloria Carlin Chetwynd gave $500. Steve Beim, a TV director with ABC sports, gave $2,500.

He's also done well with his alma mater. Along with Mr. Price's contribution, the Swann campaign has received money from USC benefactor Helene Galen, USC grad and Smart Technology Ventures founder David Nazarian, Elmore-Tuttle Sports Group principals Donna Tuttle and Ron Orr, who is on USC's athletic director's staff.

"With his USC roots, he has a tremendous amount of fans in Southern California," said Bradford Freeman, principal with Freeman Spogli & Co., a Los Angeles investment brokerage.

More important than Mr. Swann's ties to USC or the entertainment industry are his ties to Mr. Freeman, whose support demonstrates how quickly Mr. Swann has tapped into the California GOP power structure. Mr. Freeman is one of top Republican fund-raisers in the state and was President Bush's California campaign finance chair. Mr. Freeman hosted a fund-raiser for Mr. Swann in late December, and plans to hold another.

"Having a function at Brad's house is very impressive," Ms. Tuttle said. Before she joined the sports group, which owns minor league baseball and hockey teams, Ms. Tuttle was a deputy secretary of travel and tourism under President Reagan and now is working toward Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election.

Ms. Tuttle didn't attend the fund-raiser at Mr. Freeman's house but was invited to a luncheon at the prestigious Regency Club, one of the top dining and business clubs in Los Angeles.

"His career in broadcasting has given him a great deal of exposure out here," she said.

"We're a wealthy state, and a great place to pick up endorsements and money."