Council campaign cash, 30 days out

Not a whole lot of money pouring into the Council races.

Candidates in this fall's city election reported varying success collecting campaign contributions in the past three months, with Councilman M.J. Khan leading the pack at $188,000, according to filings made public Tuesday.

Mayor Bill White, who has raised $1.9 million this election cycle and faces two marginal opponents, came in second, collecting $116,000.

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In the contested races, the campaign filings may offer clues about which candidates have the best chances to win, especially in a low-turnout election with little or no polling.

"It's not a perfect predictor. Sometimes candidates raise a lot of money and lose. But it usually will tell you who the serious candidates are, particularly in these multi-candidate races," said Richard Murray, a political scientist with the University of Houston.

I agree with that assessment. I also think that the less money raised, the lower the turnout we're going to get. Whatever the prediction is by the city secretary beforehand, I'm going to pick the under as things stand now.

The most hotly contested races include campaigns to replace term-limited council members Ada Edwards (District D), Addie Wiseman (District E), Carol Alvarado (District I), and Michael Berry (At-Large Position 5).

In the race to replace Berry, businessman Zaf Tahir reported raising about $47,000. He now has $161,000 in the bank to fund the last month of this campaign, far more than the other candidates in the race.

Chiropractor Jack Christie, who, like Tahir, has faced questions about residency, came in second with $40,000 in the bank, thanks to a personal loan. He raised $250, the filing showed.

In the District D race, pastor Michael Williams out-raised the other seven candidates, collecting nearly $40,000. He has about $10,000 on hand.

City employee Wanda Adams raised $7,400 but reported only about $4,000 in the bank.

In the District I race, James Rodriguez and John Marron both raised $44,000. Marron, a retired labor leader, had about $50,000 left to spend.

Rodriguez, a marketing director who was Alvarado's chief of staff, had about $18,000. He reported spending $65,000 since July, more than twice Marron's total expenditures.

In the race for Wiseman's seat, former Humble schools trustee Mike Sullivan raised $9,400. Lawyer William Williams reported raising $800.

Matt Stiles has a spreadsheet with updated tallies here.

Political action committees working to help area school districts pass more than $2 billion in bonds also turned in their contribution reports Tuesday.

Parents and Teachers for Our Public Schools reported $164,650 in political contributions to support the Houston Independent School District's $805 million bond proposal.

Among the contributions: Boulevard Partners donated $80,000 in office space; Mir, Fox & Rodriguez, a Houston-based accounting and consulting firm, donated $10,000; and Community Education Partners, a Nashville-based company that HISD pays to educate at-risk students, gave $10,000.

What I want to know is whether Concerned Citizens for School Equality, the Turner/Dutton anti-bond PAC, has raised any money. I did a search on that string in the city's new CFR webpage and came up empty. Anybody know anything about that?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 10, 2007 to Election 2007