Incumbent Dahl leads Tucson City Council candidates in fundraising

Incumbent Kevin Dahl leads all Tucson City Council hopefuls in campaign fundraising totals with less than a week left until the primary elections.

Democratic voters in wards 3, 5 and 6 will choose Tuesday, Aug. 5, among multiple candidates, who are raising thousands of dollars for their campaigns.

Ward 3

Ward 3 voters will have a choice between one-term incumbent Kevin Dahl and challenger Sadie Shaw. Janet “JL” Wittenbraker is the lone Republican running; she will face the winner of Tuesday’s primary in the November general election.

Dahl

According to Dahl’s pre-primary report, which spanned from July 1 through July 19, Dahl started the month with $49,279 on hand. His campaign raised an additional $1,430 and spent $15,391, entering July 20 with $35,318 on hand.

The largest expense, $9,000, was for social media advertising, according to the filing.

Dahl’s campaign since forming in January has raised $85,774, $37,757 of which came from public matching funds. In total the campaign has spent $50,318, according to the most recent report.

Of the total raised, $3,000 has come from three political committees, which each gave $1,000 to the campaign in May or June: the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Arizona PAC, Ironworkers Local 75 PAC and the United Food and Commercials Workers (UFCW) Local 99 union, according to Dahl’s quarterly report dated July 20.

Shaw

Shaw’s most recent filing is a quarterly report that spans April 1 through June.

In that two-month period, Shaw’s campaign added $18,818 to the $1,623 it had on hand. Shaw spent $8,684 and entered July with $11,757 on hand.

Since forming in March, Shaw’s campaign has raised $21,185, received no public matching funds and spent $9,428 through June.

Of the total raised, $1,000 came from a single political committee, Leadership for Educational Equality, on March 25, according to a previous filing.

Wittenbraker

Wittenbraker reported entering July with $1,517 on hand, raising an additional $1,195 and spending $698 through July 19. Her campaign entered July 20 with $2,014 on hand.

Since forming in March, Wittenbraker’s campaign has $12,186 in total, spending $10,171.

Wittenbraker has not taken any funds from political committees, she reported.

Ward 5

Tucson’s Ward 5 residents will elect a new City Council member for the first time in 16 years, as longtime councilman Richard Fimbres resigned in May. Rocque Perez, who has filled the seat since then, is not running for the office.

Three Democrats are running in the Ward 5 race: Selina Barajas, Chris Elsner and Jesse Lugo. With no Republicans on the ballot, barring any write-in candidates in the November general election, the race will be decided Tuesday.

Barajas

Barajas’ pre-primary report filed July 26 reports having $8,337 on hand entering July and raising $23,711, $11,973 of which came from public matching funds. The campaign reported spending $10,115 and entering July 20 with $13,596 on hand.

Since the campaign formed in January, it has reported raising $40,421 and spending $38,798 in total.

Barajas has received $3,500 total from PACs. Of that, $2,500 came in May and June: $1,000 each from the Iron Workers Local 75 PAC and IBEW Arizona PAC as well as $500 from Arizona List PAC, according to a quarterly report filed July 16.

Her campaign also received $1,000 in March from UFCW Local 99, according to a previous filing.

Elsner

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Elsner’s pre-primary report filed July 25 shows the campaign entered July with $1,628 on hand and raised $1,628 through the reporting period, which spanned through July 19. The campaign reported spending $988 through the period.

Elsner has not received any public matching funds, according to the most recent filing.

Since forming in February, Elsner’s campaign has raised $5,813 and spent $5,172.

Lugo

Lugo’s most recent filing is the quarterly report which spanned the months of April, May and June. He reported entering April with $15,438 on hand, raising $24,244 and spending $13,440. He entered July with $26,243 on hand.

Lugo has not received any public matching funds, according to the most recent filing.

His campaign received $1,000 donations from the International Association of Firefighters PAC and the Realtors of Arizona PAC in June, according to the filing.

To date, Lugo’s campaign has raised $42,689 and spent $17,225 in total since forming in January, according to the July 25 filing.

Ward 6

Three candidates are vying in Tuesday’s primary for the Democratic nomination in Ward 6. After the November general election, that ward will have new representation for the third time in less than two years.

Democrats Leighton Rockafellow Jr., Miranda Schubert and Jim Sinex, as well as Republican Jay Tolkoff, are running to represent the ward.

Rockafellow Jr.

Rockafellow’s most recent filing is a quarterly report spanning April, May and June.

His campaign entered April with $16,586 and raised an additional $20,770. His campaign received $37,052 in public matching funds and spent $28,945, entering July with $45,464 on hand.

Since forming in December, Rockafellow’s campaign has raised $48,211 and no additional public matching funds and spent $39,799 through June, according to the filing.

Rockafellow has reported raising no money from political committees.

Schubert

Schubert’s most recent filing reports activity from July 1 through July 19.

According to the filing, Schubert entered July with $7,698 on hand, raised an additional $3,331 in contributions and $4,579 from public matching funds, spent $6,988 and entered July 20 with $8,620 on hand.

Since forming in December, Schubert’s campaign has raised a total of $48,790 in contributions and $41,099 from public matching funds, spending $81,069 total, according to the most recent filing.

Political committees have donated $4,250; the most recent such contribution came from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, which gave $750 on July 8.

In May, Schubert received $1,000 from the Iron Workers Local 75 PAC and $1,000 from UFCW Local 99 PAC. And in June, Schubert received $1,000 from both the Arizona List PAC and the IBEW Arizona PAC, according to a previous filing.

Sinex

Sinex has not submitted a campaign finance report since the March post-election filing, which spanned from Feb. 23 to March 1. It reported Sinex started the reporting period with no cash on hand and spent $282 of his own money.

Tolkoff

Tolkoff has also not filed a new report since the March post-election filing, which reported he entered the period with $100, raised none and spent none.