Schor leads fundraising

It’s that time of the year again — pumpkins, goblins and campaign finance reports. With five races for Lansing City offices and nine candidates on the ballot next Tuesday, the cash has been flowing. Overall, the eight candidates who had filed reports raised nearly $190,000. The filing date was Friday.

Here’s a break-out for each candidate.

Mayor’s race:

Andy Schor rolled into the general election with both a financial and electoral advantage over Judi Brown Clarke.

Whether he retains his electoral advantage or not, we’ll know on Tuesday, but to date Schor out-raised Brown Clarke by $68,215.

The breakdown: Schor had $137,139. He raised $93,030. He has on hand $135,345. Of the $93,030 Schor raised, nearly 41 percent came from political action committees and nearly 45 percent came from people who reside outside the city of Lansing.

Notable donors for Schor this reporting period include:

$1,000 from John Clark, partner at Clark Construction.

$500 from Samuel Clark, president of Clark Construction.

$500 from George Eyde of the Eyde Co.

$1,000 from James Herbert, the CEO of Neogen.

$1,000 from developer Richard Karp, of Karp and Associates.

$1,000 from Najah Konja, owner of Wild Bill’s Tobacco, which has been involved in funding the campaign to legalize marijuana in Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Brown Clarke had $2,474 heading into the general election

She raised $23,815. She has on hand $14,130. Of her total fundraising this reporting period, 42.5 percent came from outside of the city, just over 36 percent came from the city, and her $5,000 loan represented nearly 21 percent of her fundraising.

City clerk

Incumbent City Clerk Chris Swope raised $7,031 during the reporting period, while his opponent, Jerimic Clayborn III, raised $130. Swope had $5,135 on hand running into the election while Clayborn was holding onto $33.

At-large City Council

In the At-large Council race, three of the four candidates had filed their reports by Monday afternoon. Incumbent City Councilwoman Kathie Dunbar had not filed by 2:30 p.m. Monday. This is the second report in a row that she has been late filing. Candidates Peter Spadafore, Kyle Bowman and Guillermo Lopez filed on time.

Here is what the filings show: Bowman raised $4,120 during the period and started it with $1,120 on hand. He ended the reporting period with a $1,073 surplus.

Of his cash, 25 percent came from PAC donations for a total $1,050. Just over 72 percent of his fundraising came from out of the city donors.

Lopez raised $3,193 since the primary and started the reporting period with $2,729 on hand. He finished the reporting period with $3,147. His report shows nearly 27 percent of the donations came from outside of the city, and most donors contributed $50 or less. He received no PAC money. His report shows $9,303 in cash he loaned his campaign. That money is not part of his overall balance in fundraising report, making it unclear where it fits into his cash on hand or spending, Once again, Spadafore was the cash king in this reporting period, raising $16,925. He started the reporting period with $21,001, and with expenditures and fundraising ended the period with a healthy $26,226.

Of that money Spadafore did raise this round, 41 percent was from PACs, nearly 38 percent from out of the city and nearly 21 percent from within the city. Notable donors include State School Superintendent Brian Winston with a $700 donation, Lansing School District Superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul donated $250 while House Democratic Leader Sam Singh of East Lansing donated $250. Spadafore, a member of the Lansing School Board, is associate executive director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators.

2nd Ward

In a feisty battle between incumbent City Councilwoman Tina Houghton and plumber and political neophyte Jeremy Garza, the two opponents raised a combined $20,900.

Garza started the reporting period with $1,859, raised $12,575 and ended the reporting period with $4,235. Of the cash he raised, 89 percent came from PACs, and 7 percent came from out of the city.

Hoghton’s report, which was filed a day late, showed she raised $8,325 during the reporting period. She started the reporting period with $15,369 but running into the general election has $6,148 cash.

PACs donated 66 percent of her cash, while nearly 19 percent of her cash came from donors living outside of the city. One interesting donor pops out: Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero’s father, Guilio Bernero, donated $200. She also reports spending nearly $4,000 in robocalls. That could mean voters in the 2nd may expect a flood of pre-recorded calls in the final week of the campaign.

4th Ward

Over on the city’s Northwest side, Jim McClurken and Brian Jackson are seeking to replace retiring City Councilwoman Jessica Yorko. Jackson narrowly outraised McClurken, $5,210 to $5,132.

McClurken started the reporting period with $170 and ended the period with $211. Of that $5,132 he raised, 63 percent came from in the city and 34.5 percent from out of the city.

Jackson started the period with $300 and moves into the last week of the election with $2,822 in the bank. Eighty percent came from within the city. Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon — Jackson ran against her — donated $100. Yorko spent $342 on Facebook ads to promote his campaign, representing 86 percent of his inkind donations.