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After covering the latest mayoral campaign filings yesterday, LL has written up the best and worst of the down-ballot races. Below, some challengers for At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, some Capitol Hill help for Ward 6 challenger Darrel Thompson, and the infinite wallet of Pete Ross.
At-Large
Anita Bonds
Raised: $17,785. Spent: $0. Cash on hand: $19,185.
Bonds’ contributors included controversial halfway house Hope Village ($1,000) and a bundled $9,000 from city contractor and former employer Fort Myer Construction.
Nate Bennett-Fleming
Raised: $11,063.66. Spent: $29. Cash on hand: $11,034.66.
Shadow Rep. Bennett-Fleming came in a few thousand behind incumbent Bonds, receiving contributions from former shadow rep John Capozzi ($150), activist Philip Pannell ($1,000), ex-councilmember Arrington Dixon ($1,000), and $5,000 from the candidate himself.
John F. Settles
Raised: $9,675. Spent: $1,930.49. Cash on hand: $7,744.51.
Settles, tossed off the ballot in the April special election that ended in Bonds’ election, kicked in $3,850 to his campaign for his second attempt.
Raised: $4,474.99. Spent: $316.92. Cash on hand: $18,644.87.
White, a newly minted independent, won’t have to compete in the Democratic primary.
* * *
Ward 1
Jim Graham
Raised: $2,500. Spent: $280. Cash on hand: $2,220.
Graham announced he was running for re-election on Monday, so all the numbers that are available so far come from his exploratory committee. $2,000 of Graham’s $2,500 came from four $500 donations from former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and one of his co-workers.
Raised: $15,578. Spent: $4,040.77. Cash on hand: $66,413.21.
Bryan Weaver
Raised: $11,482. Spent: $2,549.93. Cash on hand: $37,724.68.
How will Bryan Weaver set himself apart from Graham’s other staffers? By spending $157.50 on Halloween frisbees, maybe.
Weaver took a $250 contribution from Minyon Moore, a former chairwoman on another one of his campaigns who has a reported connection to the Jeff Thompson-tied off-the-books effort for Hillary Clinton‘s 2008 presidential campaign.
Raised: $2,350. Spent: $1,278.28. Cash on hand: $4,249.16.
* * *
Ward 3
Raised: $5,975. Spent: $11,513.60. Cash on hand: $28,306.78.
* * *
Ward 5
Raised: $31,450. Spent: $1,586.83. Cash on hand: $29,863.17.
* * *
Ward 6
Darrel Thompson
Raised: $43,373.78. Spent: $26,108.89. Cash on hand: $66,475.09.
Thompson, a former Harry Reid staffer, pulled in donations from Sen. Dick Durbin chief of staff Patrick Souders ($500), Obama campaign ad man Jim Margolis ($500), and ex-House majority leader Dick Gephardt ($500). Labor also came out for Thompson, with $500 donations each from PACs associated with the Boilermakers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
Charles Allen
Raised: $80,335. Spent: $10,132.62. Cash on hand: $70,202.38.
Former Tommy Wells chief of staff Allen took in contributions from Wells ($500) and former councilmember Sharon Ambrose ($100), whose antipathy for Wells apparently doesn’t extend to his would-be successor. H Street nightlife is also big on Allen’s donor list, with money from Argonaut co-owner Scott Magnuson and club impresario Joe Englert ($500).
* * *
Chairman
Phil Mendelson
Raised: $29,976. Spent: $6,054.20 Cash on hand: $23,920.80.
Unions came in big for the mostly unopposed council chairman (see below), with labor groups giving Mendelson a combined $16,600.
Calvin Gurley
Raised: $195.48. Spent: $286.48. Cash on hand: $9.
For someone who got nearly a third of the votes the last time he ran for chairman, perennial candidate Gurley isn’t exactly raking in the funds. Gurley could also be more frugal with what he does have—-his report reveals him renting a car twice to make putting up campaign signs easier.
* * *
Shadow Senator
Pete Ross
Raised: $32,000. Spent: $27,769.63. Cash on hand: $8,011.03.
Ross’ furniture-industry wealth continues to support his shadow senate run, enabling the candidate to plow another $32,000 of his own money into his quest for a minor, unpaid position. $4,500 of that went to pay former Loose Lips Ken Cummins‘ private investigations firm, bringing the total Ross has paid to Cummins this race to $9,000.
* * *
Attorney General
Paul Zukerberg
Raised: $12,644.07. Spent: $1,411.67. Cash on hand: $11,232.40.
After reversing itself on whether Zukerberg had to stop raising money for a race that might not exist soon, the Office of Campaign Finance has settled for listing attorney general reports entirely separately from other reports. Zukerberg, meanwhile, has taken his fight online, spending $875.51 on Facebook ads.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery