Yes, it is July 15! It’s a banner day in the political world. Campaign Finance reports are due. These reports document donations to the candidates and their expenditures. There are strict laws governing political candidates and elected officials and the contributions they receive as well as their expenses. This is a critical element of our democracy.
For politicos, it is exciting. Huge discrepancies in finances among the candidates may change public perception of who is in a better position to win.
The Mayoral candidates are beginning to divulge results. Annise Parker released her data to Bloggers in advance – providing detailed information on her filing yesterday. She has raised approximately $810,000. Gene Locke took the traditional route and filed his report. He then issued a press release. He reports raising $1.15 million. Peter Brown reports “amassing” $1.7 million. However, he has raised $477,000 since January. We are awaiting reports on Roy Morales and T.J. Huntley.
At Mayoral Musings, we think the public has a right to know who is donating to campaigns. So, we are creating a searchable database of donors! It will take us a few days to enter the data once it becomes available. Tune in next week and you will be able to search by name of donor, dollar amount or candidate. And, stay tuned for our analysis of the reports as soon as we have time to digest them.
We’ll study the money, honey! And, we will keep you informed.
Wow, lots of action, but no real progress in the race – kinda like the never-ending Hillary vs. Barack primary. Gene Locke raises the most money, as expected, but isn’t showing earth-shattering numbers. Annise Parker shows great campaign momentum and very respectable dollars, but still 2nd banana in terms of money-raised. And Peter Brown, who is a favorite to fizzle first, has more money in the bank than either of the other two candidates. Are we any closer today to knowing which of these three will make the runoff? Probably not. But at least now the “inside-baseball” crowd can disect the contribution reports and start making more dramatic moves.
The searchable database will be a real public service. Thanks, Nancy
Peter Brown definitely has the most wiggle room now. $1.7 million – I must say, I’m pleasantly surprise with Peter Brown and the money he has on hand. To me the shocker is the fact that Locke has already spent half of his money… seriously???
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