It’s no surprise that Justin Elicker convinced more people in and around his home turf on the east side of town to donate to his mayoral campaign. But he also racked up more donations than candidate Toni Harp in her side of town.
That’s one fact revealed by analysis of the fundraising numbers that came in last week when the five candidates for mayor filed their latest periodic campaign cash disclosures. The campaigns are required to submit information about how much money they are taking in, and from whom.
The bottom line from last weeks filings: candidate Henry Fernandez has raised the most money — over $177,000.
A closer look at the figures reveals a number of other interesting details about the state of fundraising in the mayor’s race: How much money is coming from out of town versus in town. Where it’s coming from in New Haven. The average size of donations to each campaign. How much money is coming from individuals versus groups.
Each of the five candidates — Elicker, an alderman who lives in East Rock; state Sen. Harp, who lives in Westville; Fernandez, a former city economic development chief; Hillhouse Principal Kermit Carolina; and plumber Sundiata Keitazulu — submitted a spreadsheet of their fundraising data to the Independent. While we agreed not to publish the spreadsheets themselves, we’ve assembled some graphs based on the information they contain. Read on to dive deep into the numbers.
Scanned versions of each campaign’s financial filings are available to download from the city clerk’s website.
Zip, Zip, Zip
Zip Code 06511.
Three candidates provided zip code information on their spreadsheets: Elicker, Fernandez and Harp.
A breakdown of the number of donors per zip code confirms what is obvious anyone glancing at Elicker’s campaign filing: He received an overwhelming amount of support from zip code 06511, which covers East Rock — the neighborhood he represents on the Board of Aldermen — and surrounding neighborhoods. He collected money from a whopping 559 individual donors in 06511 (see the graph at the top of the story), more than 10 times as many as Harp and Fernandez.
That’s perhaps not surprising since Elicker has such a strong network in and around East Rock.
Zip Code 06515.
But the breakdown by zip code also shows that Elicker collected from more donors than Harp or Fernandez in zip code 06515. That includes the area where Harp herself lives and where Fernandez has demonstrated support. Elicker received money from 65 donors in 06515; Harp from 47, and Fernandez from 19.
However, while Elicker tapped more 06515 donors than Harp or Fernandez, Harp still collected more money in that zip code — $6,255 to Elicker’s $5,025. Fernandez collected $3,940.
A complete breakdown by zip code of Elicker, Harp, and Fernandez’s donations from individuals — shown in the following pie charts — indicates that all three candidates raised most of their money from zip codes 06515 and 06511
Elicker’s 06511 donors comprise a Pac-Man-sized piece of his New Haven pie. He collected from a total of 865 individual donors.
Zip code 06511 also include a relatively large portion of Fernandez’s donor base, which comprised 98 people in New Haven, less than an eighth of Elicker’s total.
Harp collected from 140 people in New Haven. Her support appears the most spread out among the city’s zip codes.
New Haven vs. Elsewhere
The Elicker campaign has repeatedly made a point of how much of its campaign cash is raised from people within the city limits. And indeed, the campaign collected from more than twice as many New Haveners than the next closest candidate, Carolina.
Hillhouse Principal Carolina can claim the highest percentage of campaign donors who are New Haveners, edging out Keitazulu by just a percentage point.
All three candidates who are participating in the Democracy Fund — the city’s public campaign financing program — raised the majority of their money from New Haveners. Harp and Fernandez, who are not participating in the program, each raised nearly three-quarters of their money from out-of-town donors.
That difference can be seen also in the total amount of money each campaign raised in town versus out of town. Note that this graph includes money not only from individual donors but donations from PACs and businesses as well.
Groups vs. People
Only Harp and Fernandez are allowed to collect money from groups. Carolina, Elicker, and Keitazulu have sworn off PAC money or special-interest money as a condition of their participation in the Democracy Fund.
As it turns out, money from groups is only a small portion of the total raised by Harp and Fernandez:
Fernandez raised about $12,300, or nearly 7 percent of his total, from groups.
Harp raised $4,500, or less than 4 percent of her total, from groups.
Size
The Democracy Fund candidates — Carolina, Elicker, and Keitazulu — are also prohibited from taking donations larger than $370. Harp and Fernandez can take donations of up to $1,000 from individuals.
Nearly all of the candidates raised most of their money in small donations. Carolina and Keitazulu took in more than 95 percent of their campaign cash in donations of $100 or less.
Fernandez is unique among the candidates in that he raised most of his money in large donations of over $370, and least in small donations of $100 or less. He raised 43 percent of his money in donations of over $370, 32 percent in donations between $100 and $370, and 25 percent in donations of $100 or less.
Fernandez also had the highest average donation size overall: $403. Harp’s was just over half that size at $223, Elicker’s less than a quarter at $87. Carolina and Keitazulu each had average donation sizes of around $30.
So, not only does Elicker have the most actual people donating to him, not only is he the only one with a majority of donations actually coming from our city, but he even has more people donating to him in Harp's neighborhood. Who needs New Haven support though when you can have be fueled by the suburbs and Hartford county.