Real estate investor David Mincberg raised $381,477 in contributions from lawyers, investors, developers and others. Added to his own money, he put a total of $631,477 in his treasury for the November general election for county judge, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday.
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County Judge Ed Emmett, who faces former district clerk Charles Bacarisse in the March 4 Republican primary, collected $546,403 in contributions, including $5,000 from engineer James Dannenbaum and $5,000 from the political action committee associated with the architectural firm of Leroy Hermes, both of whom do business with the county. He also received contributions from local law firms and utility companies.
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Emmett also had $365,693 left from his fundraising in the first part of 2007.
Bacarisse raised $270,648 in the last six months of 2007 from lawyers and a wide variety of supporters, including $10,000 from Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane and $10,000 from the conservative R Club.
Bacarisse also had $315,485 left over from his campaigns for district clerk. He is allowed to spend that money on running for the higher office.
After expenses, Mincberg started the year with $543,614, Emmett with $582,828 and Bacarisse with $411,684.
Not a bad position for Mincberg to be in at all. Mincberg has a contested primary to deal with as well, but against a token candidate who isn’t going to be a factor. I do hope he’s active for the primary anyway, even if it’s just mail, as the more awareness of his campaign he can raise, the better. But at least he should come out of March unbattered and with a decent amount of cash available. It’s great to see him get off to such a strong start.