Are any District law firms looking for a columnist/blogger? After seeing the new campaign finance disclosures in the attorney general’s race, LL figures he’s in the wrong line of work.
Each candidate can afford to partially self-fund in the cycle running from Aug. 11 to Oct. 10, with Karl Racine leading the pack with another $225,000 personal loan to his election bid.
Karl Racine
Raised: $407,736.00. Spent: $460,788.97. Cash on hand: $188,902.03.
Racine’s campaign enjoyed a windfall this cycle, and not just because Racine loaned another $225,000 of his own money (bringing his total personal investment in the race to $450,000). Racine’s campaign received donations from ex-councilmember H.R. Crawford ($350), lottery scandal player Emmanuel Bailey ($500), go-to dictator flack Lanny Davis ($1,000), at-large hopeful Khalid Pitts ($250), and the PAC of former Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey ($1,000).
Fort Myer Construction pulled its money truck up to Racine’s bank account, with the candidate receiving $9,000 from people and trusts associated with the major city contractor.
Lorie Masters
Raised: $248,356.78. Spent: $152,464.03. Cash on hand: $140,366.27.
Only slightly outdone by Racine, Masters put $200,000 of her own money into her campaign. Also donating: former D.C. Vote boss Ilir Zherka ($250) and ex-control board honcho Alice Rivlin ($1,000).
Edward “Smitty” Smith
Raised: $110,751.14. Spent: $150,750.80. Cash on hand: $111,191.08.
Smitty couldn’t beat Masters and Racine for personal contributions, but he did loan his campaign $30,000 this period. Also among notable donors: the local AFL-CIO labor council ($1,000) and developer John Akridge ($1,000).
Smitty’s campaign report doesn’t do much to disprove the idea that the endorsement from the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club can be bought like so many mailers. A month before Smitty won the LGBTQ-focused group’s endorsements, his campaign spent $550 on payments to the club in $15 and $35 increments. That’s exactly the cost of individual memberships that would allow supporters to cast ballots for Smitty at the club’s endorsement meeting.
Also in Smitty expenses: $93,908.28 for mailers from a Connecticut-based direct mail firm and $1,500 to sign post mogul Scott Bishop.
Paul Zukerberg
Raised: $48,870.78. Spent: $32,116.09. Cash on hand: $63,609.64.
Finally, some establishment cash for the anti-establishment candidate. Gas king Joe Mamo kicked in $3,000 through various companies, while A. Scott Bolden‘s Reed Smith gave $1,500. Zukerberg loaned his campaign $20,000.
Lateefah Williams
Raised: $11,811.00. Spent: $13,076.94. Cash on hand: $4,038.24.
Update, 6:30 p.m. 10/15: Williams tells LL that her campaign filed an inaccurate report. Instead of being in the red for more than $1,000, Williams says she has $4,038.24 cash on hand.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery