Today is the deadline to file the 30-days-out campaign finance report. You can look up your favorite candidate here, but I can tell you that more than half of them aren’t up as of when I publish this. I’ve updated my Google spreadsheet that keeps track of who raised what, so check that out for a more complete summary. For now, here are the numbers for the top contenders for Mayor and Controller:
Candidate Raised Cash on Hand ========================================= Annise Parker $425,491 $222,980 Gene Locke $949,016 $1,103,631 Peter Brown $121,702 $1,933,938 Candidate Raised Cash on Hand ========================================= Ronald Green $36,411 $26,879 Pam Holm $51,088 $238,461 MJ Khan $47,207 $324,425
I should note that calling it a “30 days out” report is a tad bit misleading. That’s because the reports only cover what was raised and spent up through September 24. So when you read Gene Locke’s press release touting $1.1 million on hand, that total doesn’t include the cost of his recent TV ad buy. Having said that, given that the rule of thumb is that it takes about $250K per week to advertise effectively citywide, it’s safe to say we’ll see Locke’s ads on the tube through Election Day. Ditto for Peter Brown, who doesn’t have the same constraints as the other campaigns on this front. As for Annise Parker, I hope you’ve seen her ads by now, because it’s not clear to me you’ll see them again. That’s a huge disparity, and will be a sizable handicap for her to overcome.
As for the Controller’s race, I don’t know what Ronald Green’s strategy is, but whatever it is, I hope for his sake it can withstand a week or so of TV time from Pam Holm and MJ Khan, if they choose to go that route. I really don’t know how you can run a citywide campaign on such a shoestring, but then he’s got a lot of company at the At Large Council level, so I guess we’ll find out. And as for the district races, there’s still a lot of not much money out there. Tough year to run, but them’s the breaks.
Let me know what you think about the numbers I’m also looking forward to seeing HISD Trustee reports, but experience suggests those will take more time. Feel free to add any rumors or other tidbits you may have in the comments.
UPDATE: I have received a statement from the Parker campaign regarding her fundraising haul, which I’ve placed beneath the fold. I’ll add others as I receive them; Locke’s statement, which I linked to above, is included as well.
UPDATE: Mary Benton has a statement from Peter Brown, and (as usual) a no-reply from Roy Morales.
UPDATE: Greg breaks down the expense side of things in the Mayoral race, and adds some further observations. Nancy Sims is also tuned in.
LOCKE CONTINUES TO SHOW FUNDRAISING STRENGTH
Cash On Hand shows Locke Campaign is Poised for Final Stretch
Houston,Tx- The Gene Locke for Mayor campaign today announced that it has more than $1.1 million on hand to spend in the final weeks of the campaign. In less than three months, Locke raised nearly as much as he raised in the first six months of the year. During that reporting period (January 1, 2009-June 30, 2009), Locke out raised all other mayoral candidates.
In the October 5, 2009 report, Locke showed contributions from over 1000 individual contributors, with almost 30% of the contributors donating $100 or less. In addition thirty percent of the contributors donated online at www.genelocke.com, demonstrating that Locke has a broad coalition of support that includes not only endorsements from business and labor, but also growing grassroots support.
“We are extremely pleased by the support that Gene has received in his campaign for mayor,” said Kim Devlin, senior advisor for Locke for Mayor. “Gene’s first television ad began airing today and this report shows that the campaign will be able to continue to aggressively communicate Gene’s message to Houstonians not just on television, but at their doors, on their phones and in their mailboxes during the final stretch of the campaign.”
The reporting period for this filing is July 1, 2009 to September 24, 2009.
Parker Campaign Exceeds Finance Goals
Grassroots Candidate Gaining Momentum in Race for Mayor
Today, mayoral candidate Annise Parker reported raising more than $425,000 from 1,137 donors, including 793 new donors since July 1. The numbers exceeded the campaign’s goals for the period and reflect Parker’s growing momentum: in the last 3 days of the fundraising period 296 donors contributed $70,727.49 in response to an email appeal.
Parker reported more than $222,000 in cash on hand. Together with a $500,000 transfer to her media firm, Parker is on track to complete her aggressive media program.
Parker began the race with more than a million dollar advantage in name ID and positive job approval ratings from voters. In addition to her fundraising totals, Parker’s recent endorsements by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Houston Federation of Teachers and EMILY’s List reflect a broad and growing base of support that will power Parker into the runoff in November and ultimate victory.
Additionally, Parker’s volunteer base has grown to more than 1,100 and her online community of supporters is now more than 10,000 strong. She has more supporters on Facebook than all her opponents combined.
“Annise Parker is the grassroots candidate who started this race with a substantial base of support that she continues to grow dramatically,” said Parker’s campaign manager Adam Harris.
“While her opponents spend their personal wealth or leverage insider connections for campaign cash, Parker is building a movement of Houstonians who understand she is the only candidate who’s freed up millions of dollars for public safety, using tough audits to cut waste and fraud, and the only candidate with 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and a detailed plan to make Houston the headquarters of the new energy economy.”
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