City Candidates File Campaign Finance Reports

No wonder all those Bill Dimas for Mayor lawn signs have been invading the city like garden weeds lately.---

Dimas, one of three mayoral candidates with $60,000 to spend on their publicly funded campaigns, has already gone through more than two-thirds of his campaign treasures according to his campaign finance report filed with the city clerk today. Most of his $42,000 in campaign expenses today were spent on campaign signs (roughly $20,000), newspaper ads (roughly $10,000) and mailers (roughly $10,000).

The other two mayoral candidates, Javier Gonzales and Patti Bushee, appear to be preparing for the final stretch of campaign season with less than two months to go before the March 4 city election. Bushee reports spending just under $17,000; Gonzales just under $15,000.

Even District 1 City Council candidate Signe Lindell spent more than Gonzales and Bushee. Her report listed a total of $32,640 raised so far—twice as much as the city's public financing would have allowed her to collect (Lindell didn't seek to qualify for public financing, which for city council candidates is limited to $15,000). Lindell, who's spent $24,000, collected money from contributors like Alice O-Brien ($1,000), an adviser at Homewise, Elizabeth Martin ($1,000), a manager at Optum Health, and Bob and Linda Davis ($750) whose jobs are listed as "self employed oil drilling."

Lindell faces Michael Segura, who qualified for public financing but only has $2,000 of it left. Like Dimas, Segura spent a lot on campaign signs.

On the flip side of Lindell's large coffers is Jeff Green, a City Council candidate in District 2 who failed to qualify for public financing and has only raised around $400. Among his short list of donors is KSFR radio host and local environmental activist David Bacon. Mary Bonney, another District 2 candidate who failed to qualify for public financing, raised just under $2,000. Her donors, though, include outgoing City Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger, who currently holds the city council office Bonney is seeking. Wurzburger chipped in $200.

The rest of the candidates in District 2—Rad Action, Joe Arellano and Joseph Maestas—all qualified for public financing and reported between $10,000 and $11,000 each left in the bank.

In District 3, all candidates—Angelo Jaramillo, Marie Campos and incumbent Carmichael Dominguez—qualified for public financing. Jaramillo kept his expenses minimal, only spending $557 on an advertisement in 'Round the Roundhouse, a state employee newspaper. Campos reported $8,000 on hand and Dominguez reported $11,000.

Things are easier for Ron Trujillo, who's running for reelection unopposed in District 4. He reported just $7.50 in the bank and spent $326 on a Santa Fe Fiesta parade float back in September.

Three political action committees also reported expenditures to the city clerk this week. Progressive Santa Fe, a PAC supporting Gonzales for mayor that's run by political operative Sandra Wechsler, raised $2,750. The majority money raised came from Justice League PAC, another PAC with which Wechsler is associated. Progressive Santa Fe also paid $1,925 to Robert Wimberly, who runs "campaign research" firm Blue Searchlight in Washington DC.

A newly-formed pro-Gonzales PAC, Santa Fe Working Families, disclosed finance forms that listed Albuquerque political consultant Keegan King as its treasurer. The PAC's only contributions so far come from King at just $30.

And finally, Vote For 9 For A Fulltime Mayor, a PAC supporting a city charter referendum that would make the Santa Fe mayor's office a full-time position, listen $2,750 on hand. One of its donors is City Councilor Peter Ives, who ponied up $500.

To view all the campaign finance reports, click here.

Santa Fe Reporter