(Updated)— Democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker raised over $52,000 in individual campaign contributions and incumbent Mayor Toni Harp raised nearly $20,000 in individual campaign contributions in the first 27 days of October, according to the latest mayoral campaign finance reports.
Both candidates’ campaigns filed their respective 7th Day Preceding Election reports on the state’s online campaign finance database Tuesday night. The reports cover each campaign’s fundraising and expenditures from Oct. 1 through Oct. 27.
Elicker and Harp are both slated to appear on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. Elicker, who defeated Harp in the September Democratic Party by 16 percentage points, will appear as the Democratic nominee. Harp, who suspended, and then unsuspended, her re-election campaign after her primary loss, will appear on the third-party Working Families Party ticket.
Click here and here to read their latest campaign finance filings. Click here, here, here, and here to read about previous campaign finance filings by the two candidates.
According to the Elicker campaign’s report, the Democratic mayoral nominee raised $52,343 in individual campaign contributions over the last month. Throughout his campaign, Elicker has agreed to adhere to guidelines set by the Democracy Fund, a public financing program that provides matching grants for eligible contributions no larger than $390 apiece. (He decided not to take matching funds in the general election campaign, as opposed to the primary.)
The Elicker campaign spent $43,393.41 during the first four weeks of October, according to the report, bringing the total amount of cash he has on hand one week before the election to $28,278.01. In total, Elicker has raised $399,650.50 in individual contributions and Democracy Fund grants over the course of his campaign.
The Harp campaign, meanwhile, raised $19,955 in individual campaign contributions during the reporting period. The campaign also spent $5,003.77, leaving it with $10,266.57 in cash on hand one week out from the election. In total, Harp has raised $292,088.10 in campaign contributions over the course of her campaign. She has not participated in the Democracy Fund, thereby allowing her campaign to accept individual contributions as high as $1,000 apiece as well as political action committee (PAC) contributions.
According to her campaign’s previous fling, the Harp campaign began October with a $4,600-plus deficit, even after Harp had made a person loan of $13,500 to her own re-election efforts.
A review of the Harp campaign’s donor list shows that many of the $1,000 donors in October were family members and suburban-based developers.
Those $1,000 donors include Vincent Giordano of the Branford-based Giordano Construction, Michael Giordano of the Branford-based Giordano Construction, William Cote of the New York-based Hudson Meridian (which is one of the new owners of the 201 Munson apartment complex project), the mayor’s son Matthew Harp, the mayor’s daughter Djana Harp, Woodbridge resident William Haynes of Tri Con Construction, Hamden resident Brack Poitier of Tri Con Construction, Hamden resident Bunardy Poitier of Tri Con Construction, Anthony Sealy of OHS Construction, and Cheshire resident Brackson Portier of Handy Acres Development.
Harp campaign supporter Alex Taubes told the Independent that The People’s Campaign for Toni Harp PAC filed its campaign finance report for October with the city clerk’s office on Tuesday.
“We were started on Oct. 4 and have not raised any money or accepted any donations,” he said. “We have not spent any money either. Since we learned that the mayor’s campaign was no longer suspended, we have not felt the need to raise money or spend money.”
According to the DTC’s October campaign finance report, which can be read in full here, some of its $1,000 donors include Owl Shop owner Glen Greenberg, Chuck & Eddie’s Auto Parts CEO Charles Arcangelo, Frank Caico of the Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate, Wooster Square funeral home owner William Iovanne, Sal Brancati of East Haven, local attorney Ben Trachten, Alfonse Barbarotta of the Trumbull-based AFB Construction Management, and Robert Smith of the Branford-based Metro Star Properties LLC, and Darren Seid of the New York-based development company Epimoni.
The amount of my giving to Elicker in this round was spurred by frustration with the incumbent Mayor's decision to stay in the race, despite a resounding loss in the primary even with all the benefits of incumbency. I wonder how much of Elicker's $52K she helped raise.