. . and like a kid in a candy store I have been reading them and looking at contributors. Nothing really glaring, but I encourage you to read them yourself, seems like some people in SF have a lot of money to throw away on wannabe municipal politicians.
Here are the raw numbers (The Gargoyle Leader someone how came up with higher numbers then me);
MAYOR
Pat Costello: $75,496 (his contributor list reads like a who’s who of SF construction and development)
This quote by Pat in the Gargoyle really made me laugh;
“Despite raising the most money in 2009, Costello said he expects to be outspent in the race. His donations came from people of “all walks of life” who he said responded to his leadership as a councilor and businessman.”
Oh yeah? “All walks of life” Well he is telling the truth, except most of those people walk on the wealthier side of life, here is just a few names you may recognize;
Dana Dykhouse (First Premier), Kelby Krabbenhoft (Sanford), Greg and Phyllis Heineman (Skyforce), Jim Soukup (Soukup Construction), Dan Kirby, Peter Hegg, Tim Dougherty, Vance Goldammer (Prominent Republican Lawyer), Rick Lessnau (Sioux Falls McDonalds), Tom Muenster, Scott Lawrence (Lawrence and Schiller), Frank Alvine, Don Dunham, JR. (Dunham Companies), Jim Burma, Bob Correa (Music Service), Tom Walsh (SD Burger King), Larry Canfield, Al Schoeneman (Schoeneman’s), Jeff Schershligt (Cherapa Place), De Knudson (City’s Chief Babbler), Kevin Schieffer (Formerly(?) of DM & E), Paul Schiller (Lawrence and Schiller co-founder, and major pain in my ass)
Bill Peterson: $34,744 (This one surprised me, a little, I didn’t know what to expect, but I never thought it would be that much. Hey, doesn’t Kirby owe you some money for writing that flawed home rule charter for him?)
Mike Huether: $25,000 (this number is a little wishy washy because he did not fill out his final total)
Vernon BrownKnows: $13,000 (I got a good chuckle out of Vernon’s contributor list . . . Â sloppy seconds.)
Kermit Staggers: $1,050 (This does not surprise me, and I applaud Kermit for being modest about his campaign, I have often said money is what corrupts campaigns, elections and politicians, I think it would be great if he won mayor and spent the least. Remind me Kermit to cut you a check, BTW.)
Janoct Ajda: $0 (C’mon Janoct, you couldn’t at least get your mom to give you a couple of bucks?)
COUNCIL RACES
Jim Entenman: $15,575 (like I said in my predictions, I know Jim will raise a lot of money, and spend a lot, but doesn’t seem odd that a guy who has NO competitors has fifteen grand in the pot? Still couldn’t but a decent Harley for that)
Bob Christensen: $10,541 (This one surprised me a little, I expected less, but hey, if I ran a barber shop I would have a ‘shake for a contribution’ die.)
Sue Aguilar: $9,620 (no surprise here, Sue is rich, has rich friends, blah, blah, blah)
Michelle Erpenbach: $7,120 (Michelle’s contributor list is a very interesting read, Tom Daschle was one of her contributors, wonder if he wrote in the memo line on the check, “Sorry I voted for that stupid fucking Iraq War .”
Clarence Kooistra: $625
Charles Gaetze: $0
James Milne: $0 (didn’t file)
There was also two PAC’s involved this year. The money they raised is no surprise, but their contribution list is fun to read (SEE BELOW)
SECOND CENTURY PAC (A PAC mostly funded by lawyers. The graphic shows who they contributed to)
SIOUX EMPIRE FRIENDS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING (A PAC that promotes affordable housing. I have an idea, stop giving money to politicians and start spending it on affordable housing. The graphic shows who they contributed to)
Costello is ‘el Developer’ supported. It’s important he not get elected due to ethics and conflicts of interest. Huether may win if he stays separated from the corruption. He has issues with ‘must always win’ syndrome. This term needs a mayor who will swallow city ego and correct Munson’s failed policies. Peterson is just boring and may also have ties to ‘el developer’. Brown is arrogant and self-centered. Staggers, I favor because he’s citizen oriented and unusually honest for a politician. However, he needs money.
My candidate is the one who vows to repeal Home-Rule socialism. Nobody yet, but it’s coming before the election. It’s the best way to win if you don’t have a campaign bank roll.
“Huether may win if he stays separated from the corruption. He has issues with ‘must always win’ syndrome”
I have heard this from several people. I think it is more about ‘winning’ to him then actually wanting the job, and that bothers me. Thune is the same way.
Quite interesting. It would seem those with the lowest donations are perhaps being supported by the more average resident that does not have much in the way of disposable income? Oh, I didn’t have to file this time around as I declared after the 31st.
It’s going to be awful hard for Council Member Staggers to meet your prediction without any financial support. Fully agree with your correlation between corruption and contributions. But the reality is that money is needed to be considered a viable candidate. Campaign 101…fundraising is key to winning an election.
If you have a job in the school district (other than substitute teacher), you could afford to fund a candidate. Otherwise, to prompt change, maybe shop for exploding underwear.
Staggers can’t win if he can’t get people to support his campaign.
I wouldn’t have voted for Costello before but not it is even more obvious.
PG will now blow his balls off to raise awareness for repealing home-rule.
“about the cheapest thing to buy is a local politician” – old saying
GoD-
I think he already sold one of his children.
John2, I agree. I have often believed money corrupts politicians, look at Washington, Pierre or even our very own city council. I think it would be great if Kermit wins and spends under $20,000. I don’t think you can buy votes in Sioux Falls. After Vernon beat Theresa I did the quick math and it showed that Vernon spent 3x more than Theresa for his votes.
Way too much money is being spent on local politics now.
Being somebody mentioned the Thunes, about a week ago, a friend of mine was at their employee Christmas party(I didn’t bother asking where it was at, things like that don’t interest me) but anyway the Thunes were at the same location celebrating their anniversary and my friends boss knows them, so he brought the Thunes over to introduce them to his employees. Then after the Thunes went back to their table the boss announced to his employees that Thune would be running for President in 2012. Now that is a scary thought.
I think that is a lot of wishful thinking by conservatives.