Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Jordan, Schneider and White tops in money : Council, mayor races to be decided in November while others raise cash for primary in June

MORGAN HOOVER, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

August 4, 2009 7:09 AM

The wheels of campaign finance are turning as local hopefuls raise and spend money to move forward in their runs for office.

With $119,228.07 on hand as of July 31, Susan Jordan is ahead of fellow Democrat Das Williams going into the primary to take over the 35th Assembly District seat from her termed-out husband, Pedro Nava.

Mr. Williams, a Santa Barbara City Council member who initially supported Ms. Jordan, ended the filing period with $108,767.62, according to the California Secretary of State's office.

Republican Mike Stoker, a former Santa Barbara County supervisor, did not file a campaign finance statement with the Secretary of State's office.

The primary is June 8.

At the city level, what so far is a six-way race for the non-partisan mayor's seat is led by Helen Schneider, who reported $42,902.82 as of July 31.

Ms. Schneider is followed by Iya Falcone, who reported an ending cash amount of $29,564.63 for the filing period, and political newcomer Steve Cushman, who reported $16,025.92.

Candidates Isaac Garrett and Justin Michael have not filed their finance reports for the six-month period, and Dale Francisco announced just last week he is running for mayor.

Mr. Francisco, who also announced last week that he will accept no money from unions or local developers, reported no fundraising and spending activity for the filing period.

In the race for three Santa Barbara City Council seats, Harwood White chalked up $22,709.00 at the end of the spending period, leading the field that, as of Monday, totaled 14.

The deadline to file candidate papers for the mayor and council races is Aug. 10.

Mr. White, who said the city needs more rental housing and smaller downtown residential units at his campaign kick-off last month, plans to make "adapting to modern change" a high priority if elected.

Following Mr. White are Michael Self and Grant House.

Mrs. Self, who last month made a splash by opposing a City Council-approved project to install bulb-outs throughout the city, reported $11,659.33 and Mr. House, who voted in favor of the bulb-out project, follows closely with $11,267.34.

As of Monday, this is how the remaining 11 in the council race fared: Cathie McCammon, $10,804.05; Dianne Channing, $9,657.40; Olivia Uribe, $8,767.25; Frank Hotchkiss, $7,022.29; David Pritchett, $3,528.36 and Justin Tevis, $2,251.17.

Also running for City Council are Lane Anderson, John W. Gibbs Jr., Michael J. Jordan and Bonnie Raisin, all of whom did not file their earnings for the period with City Hall.

Lastly, John Thyne filed no fundraising and spending activity for the reporting period.

Mr. Thyne stated at his campaign kick-off in June that he will focus on three priorities: the budget crisis, public safety and preserving the town's character.

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