The first round of campaign finance reports is out, and two incumbents lead in funds raised. Anthony Smith has raised $9,480 for his bid to remain mayor, while Councilman Edward Farrell raised $11,375 in the hope of retaining his council seat. Campaign finance reports are required by state law to track the amount of money a person spends on an election bid and the source of that money. While Smith’s campaign chest is deep, his two challengers for the position, Leon Potter and Ken Hunt, have yet to release a finance report, which would be due to either having not raised or spent in excess of $500. Potter has stated from the beginning of the campaign he plans to keep his campaign grassroots, avoiding the money associated with advertising and promotion. Hunt, however, has said he is prepared to make a financial investment in his push to become mayor. Thus far, $2,391 of Smith’s funds remain. In the council race, Farrell to date has more than twice his closest competitor in campaign funding. Farrell, a registered Democrat who originally led a committee to incorporate Maricopa, has received some notable donations thus far in the election cycle. Those donations include $150 from Pinal County District 3 Supervisor David Snider, a Democrat, and $100 from District 2 Supervisor Bryan Martyn, a Republican. Farrell has also received support from the development community, including $2,870 from El Dorado Holdings, Inc. personnel. El Dorado Holdings’ co-founders, Mike Ingram and Monty Ortman, and its president, Jim Kenny, and their wives all contributed the maximum $820 allowed, and company broker Debra Bricker contributed the individual maximum of $410. Of the funds Farrell has raised to date, the incumbent has about $195 remaining. Candidate Alan Marchione, who started his campaign in June, has raised $5,324 to date and has $275 left in his account. Marchione also leads all council candidates in contributing more than $4,000 of his own money toward his election campaign. However, he is not the only candidate to pitch in to fund his or her own election bid. Rosalin Sanhadja, who raised $533 to date and has $362 left, pitched $500 into the campaign effort; Dallas Paulsen put the entire $175 covered in the report into his campaign; Brent Murphree followed, contributing all $340 of his campaign funding for the reporting period. Peggy Chapados contributed $3,000 to her campaign, and Bridger Kimball donated $400 toward his campaign. Other donors for Kimball brought the total for his campaign this period to $2,690 of which he has $461 left. While many of the candidates have spent a good majority of their campaign finances during the reporting period, Chapados is an exception. She has $1,748 remaining in her campaign fund. Julia Romero Gusse raised $1,800 and had $461 remaining as of the reporting period. The first campaign finance report details candidates’ spending and fundraising efforts for the start of their campaign through Dec. 31; the next round of reports are due by Feb. 25 and detail Jan. 1 through Feb. 17. Click here to see the candidates' campaign finance reports. NOTE: The deadline to register to vote in the March 9 primary election is Feb. 8. For more information, call the Recorder’s Office at 520-509-3555. For more voter registration information, visit www.ServiceArizona.com. File photo |