Campaign contributions light in Vancouver mayoral race

Campaigning for mayor of Vancouver can get expensive, but this year’s race is so far shaping up as one of the cheaper contests in recent memory.

With the primary election looming Tuesday, City Councilor Anne McEnerny-Ogle leads the pack in fundraising with $22,830.15 in campaign contributions.

Candidate Adam Hamide isn’t far behind with $15,250 but so far has only two contributors: himself and Kurt Naumer. Hamide, co-owner of Main Street Marijuana, wrote himself a check for $15,000.

In total, about $50,000 in contributions has been reported by the mayoral candidates, but that pales in comparison to the past two mayoral elections. In 2009, current mayor Tim Leavitt defeated Royce Pollard in the most expensive race in Vancouver history, with Leavitt raising roughly $172,000 to Pollard’s $140,000.

In 2013, things slipped some, but Leavitt still raised more than $104,000 in his re-election bid against City Councilor Bill Turlay, who raised almost $24,000.

City Councilor Jack Burkman says it’s still early, considering it’s before the primary, but the amount of money the candidates raise depends on the candidates.

“It really depends on how strong the competition is,” Burkman said. “When the two people have a good track record with the city, the race will be more expensive.”

Burkman isn’t one of the 10 candidates in this year’s race for city councilor or one of the five candidates for mayor, but he knows the basics of funding a campaign.

He put the goal for raising money simply: “Get lots of friends.

Burkman has done his share of campaigning: He ran for city councilor in 1998, he ran for state representative as a Democrat and lost during the primary vote, and he ran for city council again in 2009. His term ends this year, and he’s decided not to run for re-election because he needs more family and travel time, he wrote in a statement in January.

The amount of money needed to finance a campaign keeps going up every year, Burkman said. In general, a city councilor needs about $15,000 to $30,000 to win an election, and at least double that for a mayoral candidate.

Some candidates self-fund, but Burkman wonders what that really says about who you’re connecting with in the community.

In this year’s race for the two seats on the city council, Scott Campbell has gathered the most money with just over $19,000. Linda Glover is next at $13,300. The two are running for different positions on the city council.

The firefighters union donated a total of $6,000 to candidates McEnerny-Ogle, Campbell, Alishia Topper and Glover.

McEnerny-Ogle’s top donations come from a variety of people and companies, from electricians to people in the construction industry to property managers.

Campbell’s top donors come mostly from the property and business sector in Vancouver. Most of Cox’s top donors are Republican leaders in Vancouver, such as Eileen Quiring and Carolyn Crain. Glover’s top donations are from philanthropists, lawyers, and business owners.