Thomas Breen file photo
Then-mayoral candidates Justin Elicker and John Carlson, and Democracy Fund Administrator Aly Heimer, at an October debate.
Mayor Justin Elicker out-fundraised his Republican challenger John Carlson by nearly 9 to 1 during last year’s mayoral race, which saw the incumbent Democrat swept into office for a second two-year term.
Those latest campaign finance numbers are included in the final financial disclosure report that each mayoral candidate filed with the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) on Monday.
The reports cover all campaign revenues and expenditures for the reporting period Oct. 25 to Dec. 31, 2021. They also include revenue and expenditure numbers for the respective 2021 mayoral campaigns as a whole.
According to those reports, which can be read in full here and here, Elicker’s reelection campaign raised a total of $397,289.83 during the entirety of 2021’s race. That includes $300,771.96 in total from individual contributions, and over $96,400 from the city’s Democracy Fund.
Carlson’s challenging campaign, meanwhile, raised a total of $44,710 during his time in the 2021 race. That includes $15,322 in individual contributions, and over $29,000 in Democracy Fund grants.
Both candidates participated in the public-financing Democracy Fund, which provides matching grants to eligible candidates who limit individual contributions to no more than $390 each and who foreswear political action committee dollars.
Elicker launched his reelection campaign in January 2021. Carlson threw his hat in the ring as a Republican challenger in July, the same month that Elicker’s Democratic primary challenger Karen DuBois-Walton dropped out of the race.
During the Nov. 2 general municipal election, Elicker coasted to victory with 84 percent of the vote. At the time of the election, Democrats held a roughly 14 – 1 registration advantage to Republicans in the city.
Click here, here and here for previous stories about campaign fundraising during the 2021 race for mayor.
The best candidate money can buy? “the incumbent Democrat swept into office” with the lowest voter turnout in recent memory. “Elicker’s reelection campaign raised a total of $397,289.83…[including] over $96,400 from the city’s Democracy Fund.” This is an egregious abuse of the Fund’s original intention, which was to level the playing field, allowing a ‘minor’ candidate to have at least some chance of getting some publicity. Politics in Amerika is all about power and money, disguised behind a facade of ‘public service’. Elicker has a great future ahead of him.