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Observations on the Lansing election
November 3, 2017
The last campaign finance reports
before the November 7 election are in, covering the period from August
29 through October 22. This is from the summary pages of those reports,
which gives accumulated totals for the entire campaign. Links to the
reports are
here.
|
Candidate |
Office Sought |
Contributions |
Expenditures |
Ending Balance |
|
Judi Brown Clarke |
Mayor |
78,513.80 |
71,790.09 |
14,130.90 |
|
Andy Schor |
Mayor |
*351,519.85 |
215,368.95 |
135,345.90 |
|
Jerimic Clayborn III |
Clerk |
250.36 |
250.36 |
33.02 |
|
Chris Swope |
Clerk |
12,708.99 |
16,505.77 |
5,135.31 |
|
Kyle Bowman |
Council at Large |
22,062.00 |
20,988.87 |
1,073.15 |
|
Kathie Dunbar |
Council at Large |
40,206.00 |
43,262.75 |
6,049.71 |
|
Guillermo Lopez |
Council at Large |
11,846.06 |
7,021.39 |
3,171.45 |
|
Peter Spadafore |
Council at Large |
63,147.52 |
36,920.81 |
26,226.71 |
|
Jeremy Garza |
Council 2nd Ward |
43,380.00 |
38,644.64 |
4,235.46 |
|
Tina Houghton |
Council 2nd Ward |
34,270.00 |
33,713.65 |
6,148.64 |
|
Brian Jackson |
Council 4th Ward |
16,705.87 |
9,290.10 |
4,322.30 |
|
James McClurken |
Council 4th Ward |
22,702.00 |
22,499.08 |
211.92 |
*$90,000 of Schor's contributions was a
transfer from this state representative campaign finance committee.
Here are the contributions from political
action committees (PACs) reported in those final reports:
|
PAC |
Candidate |
Date |
Amount |
|
LAHR (Lansing Assoc for
Human Rights) |
Swope |
7/21/2017 |
50 |
|
IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund |
Swope |
7/25/2017 |
100 |
|
Realtors of PAC of
Michigan |
Spadafore |
9/1/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Miller Canfield |
Spadafore |
9/6/2017 |
250 |
|
IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund |
Spadafore |
9/25/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Lansing Regional Chamber
PAC |
Spadafore |
10/4/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters
Local 333 |
Spadafore |
10/9/2017 |
2,000 |
|
Michigan Elementary &
Middle School Principals Assoc |
Spadafore |
10/9/2017 |
250 |
|
Delta PAC |
Schor |
9/8/2017 |
250 |
|
Delta PAC |
Schor |
9/13/2017 |
250 |
|
Warner Norcross & Judd
PAC |
Schor |
9/25/2017 |
500 |
|
Pipefitters Local 636 |
Schor |
9/25/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Operating Engineers Local
324 |
Schor |
9/25/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Michigan Regional Council
of Carpenters |
Schor |
9/25/2017 |
5,000 |
|
IBEW PAC Local 58 |
Schor |
9/25/2017 |
5,000 |
|
Teamsters Drive PAC |
Schor |
9/29/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Michigan Regional Council
of Carpenters |
Schor |
9/29/2017 |
2,000 |
|
Michigan Building and
Construction Trades Council |
Schor |
10/2/2017 |
250 |
|
MEA PAC |
Schor |
10/2/2017 |
100 |
|
Blue Cross Blue Shield
PAC |
Schor |
10/3/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Muchmore Harrington
Smalley & Associates |
Schor |
10/4/2017 |
250 |
|
Plunkett Cooney |
Schor |
10/10/2017 |
500 |
|
Michigan Regional Council
of Carpenters |
Schor |
10/10/2017 |
5,000 |
|
International Union of
Painters & Applied Trades |
Schor |
10/17/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Miller Canfield |
Schor |
10/21/2017 |
7,000 |
|
Michigan Professional
Firefighters Union |
Schor |
10/21/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Realtors of PAC of
Michigan |
Jackson |
10/30/2017 |
500 |
|
Lansing Regional Chamber
PAC |
Jackson |
10/30/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Delta PAC |
Houghton |
9/25/2017 |
500 |
|
Lansing Regional Chamber
PAC |
Houghton |
10/4/2017 |
5,000 |
|
Plumbers Local 98 PAC |
Garza |
9/14/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Pipefitters Local 636 |
Garza |
9/14/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Road Sprinkler Fitters LU
669 |
Garza |
9/15/2017 |
475 |
|
IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund |
Garza |
9/26/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Asbestos Workers PAC |
Garza |
9/27/2017 |
3,000 |
|
Michigan Laborer
Political League PAC |
Garza |
9/30/2017 |
250 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters
Local 5500 |
Garza |
10/13/2017 |
1,000 |
|
International Union of
Painters & Applied Trades |
Garza |
10/17/2017 |
500 |
|
Sheetmetal Workers Local
7 PAC |
Garza |
10/26/2017 |
500 |
|
Lansing Regional Chamber
PAC |
Dunbar |
9/30/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Lansing Regional Chamber
PAC |
Dunbar |
9/30/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Greater Lansing
Association of Realtors |
Dunbar |
10/20/2017 |
750 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters
Local 333 |
Bowman |
9/18/2017 |
1,000 |
My
previous story talked of PAC contributions in the earlier
reports.
The Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 333
PAC remains the
top contributor to Lansing campaigns with $41,000:
|
Friends of Andy Schor |
12/13/2016 |
2,500 |
|
Friends of Andy Schor |
1/17/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Judi4Lansing (Judi Brown
Clarke) |
2/10/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Schor for Lansing |
3/21/2107 |
10,000 |
|
Jeremy Garza for Council |
4/26/2017 |
7,500 |
|
Schor for Lansing |
6/16/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Jeremy Garza for Council |
7/17/2017 |
2,000 |
|
Schor for Lansing |
7/24/2017 |
7,500 |
|
Committee to Elect Peter
Spadafore |
7/26/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Kyle Bowman for City Council |
7/28/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Jeremy Garza for Council |
8/25/2017 |
500 |
|
Kyle Bowman for City Council |
9/18/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Committee to Elect Peter
Spadafore |
10/2/2017 |
2,000 |
| |
TOTAL: |
$41,000 |
2nd ward candidate Jeremy Garza's PAC contributors
remain
exclusively union-related. They supplied $35,325 of his $43,380 total:
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local
333 |
4/26/2017 |
7,500 |
|
Pipefitters 636
|
5/4/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters 671
|
5/10/2017 |
500 |
|
UP Plumbers & Pipefitters 111 |
5/15/2017 |
2,000 |
|
Heat & Frost Insulators 47 |
5/30/2017 |
100 |
|
IBEW Voluntary Fund |
6/12/2017 |
500 |
|
Operating Engineers Local 324
|
6/14/2017 |
250 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters 190
|
6/14/2017 |
2,500 |
|
IBEW Voluntary Fund |
6/16/2017 |
500 |
|
Michigan Building Trades
Council |
6/19/2017 |
250 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local
333 |
7/17/2017 |
2,000 |
|
Sheet Metal Workers Local 7 |
7/20/2017 |
500 |
|
Plumbers & Steamfitters 85
|
8/2/2017 |
2,500 |
|
Sheet Metal Workers Local 7 |
8/15/2017 |
500 |
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local
333 |
8/25/2017 |
500 |
|
MI Regional Council of
Carpenters |
8/28/2017 |
1,000 |
|
Plumbers Local 98 PAC |
|
|
|
Pipefitters Local 636 |
|
|
|
Road Sprinkler Fitters
LU 669 |
|
|
|
IBEW PAC Voluntary
Fund |
|
|
|
Asbestos Workers PAC |
|
|
|
Michigan Laborer
Political League PAC |
|
|
|
Plumbers & Pipefitters
Local 5500 |
|
|
|
International Union of
Painters & Applied Trades |
|
|
|
Sheetmetal Workers
Local 7 PAC |
|
|
|
|
TOTAL: |
35,325 |
Kathie Dunbar got a $750 contribution from
music producer Gary Jones:
However, for his $750 contribution to Tina
Houghton, Gary Jones gives no occupation, but says his employer is College Fields:
In 2016, Gary Jones contributed to Virg
Bernero. At that time, he gave his occupation as owner of Jones
Development Company (developer of College Fields). He also contributed
to Virg's 527 account (see
story).
Rather large contributions were made to
Kathie Dunbar from the Monahan boys of Grand Rapids. $2000 is the limit
for contributions from individuals to at-large council candidates. I don't
remember ever having seen contributions to Lansing candidates from these
guys.
I received this flyer in the mail on
November 2. It seems to be trying to put the blame on Andy Schor for a
failed 2015 legislative proposal to raise taxes for road repairs. The
flyer appears to violate campaign finance laws by not saying who paid
for it. The return address is Capitol City Leadership Project. I googled
that name and got nothing. They don't seem to be a PAC registered with
the Secretary of State, either.
In Michigan, state law prohibits cities
from imposing sales taxes, and there are no proposals for sales tax
increases at the state level. This flyer is not only illegal, but dumb.
I kept all the flyers my wife and I
received from candidates since the primary. Here are the numbers:
|
Candidate |
Mailed |
Delivered |
|
Judi Brown Clarke |
4 |
|
|
Andy Schor |
1 |
|
|
Jerimic Clayborn III |
|
|
|
Chris Swope |
|
|
|
Kyle Bowman |
|
|
|
Kathie Dunbar |
3 |
|
|
Guillermo Lopez |
1 |
|
|
Peter Spadafore |
5 |
|
|
Brian Jackson |
6 |
2 |
|
James McClurken |
5 |
1 |
I didn't include Tina Houghton and
Jeremy Garza, since they are 2nd ward and I am 4th. I am
surprised that with all his money, we only got one from Schor.
Maybe he is saving it for his next campaign. I am also surprised
that Brian Jackson, with as little money as he had, could afford
to mail 6 and deliver 2. He mailed them to both me and my wife,
which is a waste of money. Note to Brian: Next time, sort the
voter list by address and eliminate duplicates. McClurken
addressed his to The Harry Family, but still sent 2 sets of
duplicates.
Send comments, questions,
and tips to
stevenrharry@gmail.com, or call or text
me at 517-505-2696. If
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