By Adam Pagnucco.
Part One described the methodology of this series, which is hampered by the quality problems in data published by the State Board of Elections (SBE). Part Two covered receipts received by council candidates. Now let’s look at in-county contributions.
This series examines three council races: at-large, District 1 (Bethesda-Chevy Chase-Potomac) and District 3 (Gaithersburg-Rockville). All candidates except District 1’s Drew Morrison and District 3’s Allison Eriksen and Ricky Fai Mui are using public financing. Candidates in public financing may only accept contributions from individuals of up to $500 per cycle. Contributions from in-county residents are eligible for matching funds according to the following formula:
$5 for each dollar of a qualifying contribution received for the first $50 of each qualifying contribution;
$3 for each dollar of a qualifying contribution received for the second $50 of each qualifying contribution;
$2 for each dollar of a qualifying contribution received for the third $50 of each qualifying contribution; and
$0 for each dollar of a qualifying contribution received for the remainder of each qualifying contribution.
And so a $150 contribution from an in-county resident will receive $500 in public matching funds, making it the equivalent of a $650 contribution. That means the REAL measure of a candidate’s success in public financing is not the raw amount of contributions they collect, but the volume of contributions they receive from in-county residents.
Let’s show that data through January 14.
The chart below shows in-county contributions by council at-large candidates who had filed reports through January 14. This data comes from contribution spreadsheet downloads because the report summary sheets are sometimes inaccurate.
Scott Goldberg was the leader on overall fundraising and also leads on this stat, suggesting that he will be the first to reach the maximum allowable amount of matching funds ($290,060 for at-large candidates). Jeremiah Pope, current County Executive Marc Elrich, incumbent Council Member Laurie-Anne Sayles, Board of Education Member Karla Silvestre, Fatmata Barrie and Josie Caballero either qualified for, applied for or should soon qualify for matching funds.
Now to in-county contributions in District 1.
Board of Education Member Julie Yang is dominating the field, at least financially. She has already collected the maximum level of matching funds allowed for district candidates ($145,030). Drew Morrison and Debbie Spielberg appear even, but there is a huge caveat. Morrison is in traditional financing and can accept contributions of up to $6,000. Spielberg is in public financing and can only accept contributions of up to $500 – however, in-county contributions are eligible for matching funds. Throw in Morrison’s $40,000 loan to himself and Spielberg’s pending application for matching funds and the two are close to each other – but waaaay behind Yang.
Now to in-county contributions in District 3.
Rockville City Council Member Izola Shaw and Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman are pretty close on this measure but there is an important difference of timing. Shaw began raising money in August. Ashman began raising money in November. Shaw’s three month head start did not generate a substantial lead over Ashman.
We will have more next.