We’re headed into the final weekend. So who will have the biggest war chest to blow in the next five days?
According to reports filed earlier this week, Ward 2 incumbent Jack Evans has better than $184,000 in the bank; challenger Cary Silverman has but $3,440. Unopposed at-larger Kwame Brown has $144,000 in the bank. Republican at-large foes Carol Schwartz and Patrick Mara continue to duel; Mara’s spent more thus far, but Schwartz has more in the bank going forward.
But the fattest kitty belongs to Ward 4’s Muriel Bowser, who has been downright thrifty in her expenditures thus far. She has $224,000 banked.
WARD 2
Jack Evans
In: $20,596 ($605,324 total); Out: $48,672 ($420,718 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $184,606
The Skinny: Evans breaks the $600,000 mark on a ward council race. He did it with help from law firms Arnold & Porter and Arent Fox (and the latter’s client, D.C. United), developers Forest City Enterprises, and Shaw race-baiter Leroy Thorpe ($200), among many others. In most parts of the country, the state party apparatus raises money to give to its candidates, but not here: Evans gave a hefty $10,000 donation to the D.C. Democratic State Committee. Much of the rest went to canvassers, consultants, and newspaper ads. (That controversial Current spot apparently cost $1,827.)
Cary Silverman
In: $12,591 ($48,360 total); Out: $13,553 ($44,995 total); Debts/Loans: $10,000; Cash on Hand: $3,440
The Skinny: Silverman’s put together a nice little haul, garnering 83 mostly low-dollar-amount donors since Aug. 10. Silverman has also loaned $5,000 to pump up the campaign’s bottom line. Most of the cash has gone to printing and to direct-mail firm Paul & Partners of Dulles, Va.
Christina Culver
In: $0 ($9,033 total); Out: $0 ($517 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $8,516
The Skinny: No movement at all from Republican Culver. But look at it this way: in looks equity, Culver is seriously outearning Silverman.
WARD 4
Muriel Bowser
In: $11,329 ($392,870 total); Out: $47,356 ($168,670 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $224,201
The Skinny: Watch out, David Catania—-Muriel’s taking pharmaceutical money! Bowser took $500 checks from PACs associated with both PhRMA and Pfizer Inc. That’s in addition to big donations from McKissack & McKissack, the minority-owned engineering firm that rolls in government contracts, and baseball booster Mark Tuohey. Bowser continues to spend relatively lightly, mostly on printing.
Baruti Jahi
In: $1,150 ($12,840 total); Out: $10,815 ($12,772 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $168.30
The Skinny: Jahi raised a decent chunk, mostly from his home turf in Shepherd Park, and he’s finally begun to spend it, mostly on an campaign materials from an Illinois-based outfit. Not much in the bank for the final weekend.
Malik Mendenhall-Johnson
In: $0 ($25 total); Out: $0 ($0 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $25
The Skinny: The suspense builds! What will Mendenhall-Johnson spend his $25 on as the final weekend approaches?
Report for Paul Montague had not been posted by last night.
WARD 7
Yvette Alexander
In: $14,125 ($155,605 total); Out: $28,169 ($133,761 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $21,844
The Skinny: Last time, LL scolded Alexander for getting her catering done at a Maryland rib joint rather than at Ward 7’s own Fat Face BBQ. Alexander listened! This cycle’s report says her campaign dropped $2,685 at Fat Face last month—-way to keep the dollars local! As to where those dollars came from, Alexander, too, took a max donation from Pfizer, plus at least $2,500 from individuals connected to road builders Fort Myer Construction. She also raked in $1,200 from staffers working for Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray. Besides the barbecue, Alexander’s spending big money on “consultants”—-10 people with that title made $500 or more this reporting period.
Reports for Robin Hammond Marlin, Villareal Johnson and John Campbell had not been posted by last night.
WARD 8
Marion Barry
In: $20,695 ($217,090 total); Out: $14,950 ($209,142 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $7,948
The Skinny: LL spoke too soon when taking Alexander to task for her army of “consultants”; Barry’s spent more than $13,000 on 15 paid consultants this reporting period, making from $3,100 on down to a couple of hundred dollars. Financing all this walking-around money? Old-time Barry crony Dickie Carter, for one; businesses and individuals associated with the garbage hauler donated $2,500. Also: Did Barry receive Bud Doggett‘s last political contribution? The parking mogul died Aug. 13 at age 87; his $500 check to Barry was deposited two days prior.
Sandra “S.S.” Seegars
In: $762 ($20,535 total); Out: $1,441 ($7,241 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $13,295
The Skinny: Seegars’ service on the Taxicab Commission pays off: Diamond Cab throws $500 her way. Question is, what is she waiting to spend it on?
Charles Wilson
In: $1,375 ($4,390 total); Out: $1,049 ($7,584 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $680
The Skinny: Wilson picked up a big $1,000 check from Paul Opalack, the chair of consulting firm Noblestar Systems Corp., who also hosted a fundraiser for Wilson earlier this week at his Georgetown home. One problem: There’s a $500 max in ward races. Make sure you save $500 for the refund!
Reports for Howard Brown and Ahmad Braxton-Jones had not been posted by last night.
AT-LARGE
Kwame R. Brown
In: $40,320 ($575,163 total); Out: $51,971 ($431,046 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $144,117
The Skinny: Kwame continues to rake it in. That would be all fine and good, if he had an opponent. Brown continues to collect this money—-much of it from construction and development concerns with potential interests in matters likely to come before his economic development committee—-to spend, or not spend, on a race that he has essentially won already.
Carol Schwartz
In: $45,870 ($184,875 total); Out: $22,677 ($68,561 total); Debts/Loans: $40,356 loan from Schwartz; Cash on Hand: $84,762
The Skinny: Schwartz continues to play catch-up, pulling in the bucks from local Repubs plus the occasional where-are-they-now luminary (Bill Regardie, Sterling Tucker). She also is a strong believer in the local print media, placing ads in no fewer that eight publications (including this one), spending over $7,800 in the process. Also: The total receipts and cash-on-hand figures might be off; the committee seems to have double-counted Schwartz’s $40,000-plus loan to the campaign as both a loan and a contribution—-that means the total receipts are more like $140K.
Patrick Mara
In: $32,015 ($136,905 total); Out: $39,028 ($93,730 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $43,233
The Skinny: Mara’s not purely a business-community toady any longer, bringing in a fair number of smaller donations from local Republicans. But, make no mistake, the biz folks still love him, with max donations from the Realtors PAC, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, and Clyde’s. Fishy expenditure: a $1,000 in-kind donation from a Kinko’s?
David Schwartzman
In: $421 ($1,421 total); Out: $0 ($39 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $1,832
The Skinny: Schwartzman continues to conserve that war chest for what’s sure to be a knock-down, drag-out general election! Wooo!
Dee Hunter and Michael A. Brown were not required to file pre-primary reports.
SHADOW SENATOR
Paul Strauss
In: $5,045 ($35,655 total); Out: $6,063 ($15,610 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $20,045
The Skinny: Longtime political hand Marshall Brown is $2,000 richer thanks to Strauss, and former council staffer Aimee Occhetti also pocketed $1,225 in consulting fees.
Nelson Rimensnyder
In: $1,055 ($2,795 total); Out: $2,795(?) ($2,795(?) total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $0(?)
The Skinny: Rimensnyder’s pulled in a nice haul of small donations ($25 from Terry Lynch!), and he indicates on his report that he’s spent every last penny he has. LL thinks he filled out his form wrong, and he’s actually yet to spend a nickel.
Philip Pannell
In: $1,805 ($6,355 total); Out: $80 ($201 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $6,154
The Skinny: Time’s running out for Pannell to spend his kitty, pumped up with donations from Ward 8 folks, gay activists, and the Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain crowd.