With just over three weeks until this fall’s municipal election, candidates have already done a good chunk of their fundraising. As the sprint to the finish approaches, two mayoral candidates are well ahead of the pack in terms of money raised, according to filings with the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC).
Saralyn Tabachnick has raised more than $31,400, according to her APOC filing, putting her just ahead of fellow mayoral candidate Beth Weldon’s $27,600 total. Weldon has spent more than $17,000 of that, while Tabachnick has spent $7,000.
The other two mayoral candidates, Norton Gregory and Cody Shoemaker, did not disclose their finances to APOC. If a candidate has raised less than $5,000, they can file an exemption and not disclose their finances. Gregory told the Empire that he does eventually plan to raise more than $5,000, but is currently at about $3,300.
Assembly District 2 candidate Wade Bryson reported the most campaign income of the Assembly candidates, totaling $10,900 through early last week. Bryson’s campaign is self-funded, as he is listed as the only contributor to his campaign.
Michelle Hale, who is also running for a District 2 seat, has raised $7,660. Both Bryson and Hale have spent over $5,000, according to their filings. Other District 2 candidates Don Habeger and Garrett Schoenberger have raised over $2,800 and $2,200, respectively. Emil Mackey, the final candidate in that race, did not disclose his campaign income.
Areawide Assembly candidate Carole Triem reported her income as just over $6,800, while her opponent Tom Williams did not disclose his income. District 1 incumbent Loren Jones, who is running unopposed, did not report his income.
For almost all of the Assembly candidates who filed, their biggest expenditure was to Commercial Signs and Printing for road signs. Most of those expenditures were right around $900, except for Schoenberger, who reported that he has spent more than $2,000 at Commercial Signs and Printing. Tabachnick reported spending $1,900 at the business as well. Weldon’s top expense thus far, according to her filing, is to Alaska Litho for mailings.
Board of Education candidates Kevin Allen and Elizabeth Siddon didn’t disclose their expenses, but candidate Paul Kelly reported that he’s raised $2,995.
The municipal election is Oct. 2. For information on each candidate, voters can go to https://beta.juneau.org/clerk/certified-municipal-candidates and read candidate statements and find out ways to contact the candidates.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
