LR candidates report fundraising

— In the two months leading up to the Aug. 24 election filing deadline, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola amassed nearly $60,000 in contributions before he knew how many opponents he might face in his re-election bid.

In the week after it became clear that his only challenger was perennial candidate Glen Schwarz, best known for his quest to legalize marijuana, Stodola raised $10,656.

Schwarz raised $140 - all his own money, according to a campaign contribution and expenditure report filed with the Pulaski County clerk’s office on Monday. He reported an in-kind cost of $160 worth of campaign advertisements in his own newspaper, The Emerald City of the South. Another $120 was spent on fliers and signs.

Stodola spent more than that amount on campaign Tshirts - $461.

“You don’t raise money based on what the other guy is doing,” Stodola said Wednesday when asked about the financial disparity between the two campaigns.

The filing deadline for pre-election reports was Tuesday. Stodola’s campaign reported raising $129,065 between July 1 and Oct. 22.

“I have my own goals to try and set on what is necessary to try and communicate with the voters,” he said.

Telling Little Rock’s story of “progress” is important to him, Stodola said.

Along with the expected expenses of yard signs and direct mail, the mayor’s campaign spent $8,500 on polling Little Rock residents on their feelings of how the capital city is doing. Stodola declined to release the polling results but said that “78 percent of people” said Little Rock is “going in the right direction.”

His 39 pages of contributions showed 46 donations of at least $1,000. Stodola, a former prosecutor and attorney, received money from at least 69 attorneys. He received $13,287 worth of nonmonetary contributions, including the use of a boat owned by Paul Hastings for a river cruise. The boat ride was valued at $1,800.

As of Friday, Stodola’s campaign reported $38,558 in spending, leaving a balance of $90,506.

The balance will be much less once the final bills hit, Stodola said.

State law says candidates can carry over campaign funds from year to year, but Little Rock city code is more restrictive. Any money left 30 days later has to be donated to a charity, given back to donors or turned over to the city’s general fund, accordingto city code.

Stodola, who raised a total of $278,572 for his first mayoral campaign in 2006, said he donated an estimated $2,800 balance to the Francis A. Allen School for Exceptional Children, a school where his wife worked. The nonprofit school serves children with disabilities.

Ross Phillips, a candidate for west Little Rock’s Ward 5, said he wasn’t aware of the city code requirement until asked about it by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday. He started his campaign against Lance Hines and Lynette Bryant with $6,593 he carried over from his 2008 race against At-Large City Director Gene Fortson.

“I checked with the [Pulaski County] Election Commission after that race and they said I could keep that because I planned on running for Ward 5 in a couple of years,” said Phillips, who received $1,400 in contributions this time around and spent $1,615.

Now that he’s aware of the code, Phillips said he would give back any remaining money or donate it to charity after the election. Phillips is not sure whether he faces any penalty for carrying over contributions.

City Attorney Tom Carpenter started reviewing the city code last month when Ward 5 Director Michael Keck asked him to delve into how the city can enforce the requirement to shed excess campaign dollars and whether the language needed any revising. At the time, Keck said he wanted to remind people about the 1997 citycode.

Carpenter said Wednesday that he had not finished his review.

Bryant didn’t file a preelection report, which is only required if a candidate raises or spends more than $500. All candidates must file a final campaign contribution and expenditure report.

After hearing about emails circulating on behalfof Hines, Phillips said he felt he wasn’t going to win the election.

Then he saw Hines’ billboard on Interstate 630.

Phillips stopped spending his money and decided to forgo printing more campaign materials.

“It’s going to go in the trash so I thought I’d save the rest of my funds and let the money go to charity,” he said.

Hines, who kicked off his election campaign in August with a pool party in his Villages of Wellington neighborhood, reported raising $36,017 so far. He’s spent $19,536.

Hines said he was surprised by the support, which surpassed his initial projections. Hines thought the state and national races in Arkansas would have kept people from donating to his city race.

But the financial support turned out to be a good thing, he said, because running for office is costing more than the $15,000 he originally anticipated.

“It’s overwhelming when you think of that money when you’re starting out,” he said.

Several candidates said they felt like the congressional races and the economy kept people from donating as much. Other candidates, including Stodola and City Director Doris Wright, said they didn’t campaign as hard as they did four years ago because their opposition hadn’t mounted aggressivecampaigns.

Wright reported $4,500 in contributions, including $500 from herself, and spending $3,670. Most of that amount - $3,000 - was spent on canvassers.

In 2006, Wright reported raising a total of $4,850.

Nicole Winstead, who is challenging Wright for the seat, did not file a preliminary report.

Nor did Ward 1 Director Erma Hendrix and one of her three challengers, Herbert Broadway.

Kevin Dedner, who also is running against Hendrix, reported $13,100 in contributions and $11,770 in expenses.

Robert Webb, another Ward 1 candidate, reported $6,097 in contributions and a $2,100 loan to himself. So far, Webb has spent $5,304, mostly on campaign advertising and consultant fees.

Webb, who has not run for office before, said he didn’t start out expecting to raise a lot of money. He slowed down on fundraising after repeatedly coming across residents who didn’t have much money to give.

“Asking someone to give you 200 bucks, that is a light bill,” he said, adding that his ward is home to some of the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

In Ward 2, City Director Ken Richardson was the only candidate to file a preelection report. Richardson faces Connie Hamzy and Maudella Morehead on the ballot Tuesday.

Richardson reported $9, 260 in expenses and $10,950 in contributions, up from the $7,733 in 2006. At-Large Directors Fortson and Dean Kumpuris donated to his campaign, $750 and $500 respectively.

Richardson also paid $2,700 for election materials from Blue Dog Graphics, a business owned by Winstead.

Fortson also contributed $300 to Ward 3 Director Stacy Hurst’s campaign, which reported $22,490 in contributions and $14,788 in expenses. Her opponent, James Dillon, reported no contributions and $4,542 in expenses.

Ward 7 Director B.J. Wyrick also received a $100 contribution from Fortson and Kumpuris. She reported $8,690 in contributions and $3,779 in expenses. Wyrick didn’t have any opposition in 2006 and didn’t raise nor spend any money.

Her opponent in this race, Bruce Tate, raised $1,500 and spent $1,191.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 10/28/2010

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