This morning the City of Salisbury released 37 pages of candidate financial reports which cover fundraising for the pre-primary period. So who's winning the fundraising race? Well, in order of finish for the period:
Tim Spies, $2,360 from 45 contributors
Terry Cohen, $2,155 from 49 contributors
Orville Dryden, $2,100 from 9 contributors
Joel Dixon, $1,850 from 9 contributors
Muir Boda, $1,635 from 9 contributors
Bruce Ford, $310 from 2 contributors
Laura Mitchell filed her report stating, "contributions to date are insufficient to require a full report."
However, she did hold a fundraiser in early January so presumably she has raised a little money - just not up to the $600 threshold.(In speaking to Laura after the NAACP forum, she informed me the January event was not used as a fundraiser, so I stand corrected.)Michael Taylor filed his report with the same message, but listed contributions as zero.
Perhaps my polling isn't so far off after all based on monetary results - the five who are leading the pack have significantly larger financial resources than the remaining three.
And if you look at the contributor lists, some interesting alliances occur.
Seven of the nine contributors to Orville Dryden maxed out their contributions to him (the city allows only a $250 contribution per candidate.) All nine also gave to more than one candidate:
Charlene Lococo of Berlin gave $200 each to Dryden, Muir Boda, and Joel Dixon.
Bret Hopkins of Fairfax Station, VA gave $150 each to those three.
Bryan Fox of Lexington, SC gave $250 each to Dryden and Dixon.
Paul Allen, also of Lexington, SC gave $250 each to Dryden and Dixon.
Gabriel Investment Company of Salisbury gave $250 each to Dryden and Boda.
Lauren and Keith Fisher, both of Salisbury, gave $250 apiece to Dryden and Boda.
Lynne Smith of Salisbury also gave $250 apiece to Dryden and Boda.
Susan and Arthur Spengler together gave $250 apiece to Dryden and Boda.
While I don't know what each of these contributing individuals do for a living, one could construe this as evidence these three are the so-called "SAPOA" candidates. Boda only had two other contributions from individuals and Dixon received much of his other support from his family.
However, it can also be shown that Cohen and Spies are running as a team of sorts, with the most obvious sign being a joint fundraiser. Thirty of their contributors gave to both (mainly as a result of the joint effort) but only one maxed out to both so far: Anita Malik of Salisbury. Other significant contributors to both Cohen and Spies are Mary Gibson of Salisbury ($100 each), Dorothy Truitt of Salisbury (also $100 each), P. James Doyle of Salisbury (also $100 each), David Suiter of Salisbury (also $100 each), Patricia Derrick of Salisbury ($100 to Cohen, $250 to Spies), and Gail Reilly Cross of Salisbury ($100 to each.) Whether that is enough for them to help the candidates or if they are holding money in reserve for the general election that both should easily qualify for is the question, and one which won't be answered until late next month when general election reports are due.
I should also send kudos to Brenda Colegrove, the Salisbury City Clerk, for making these reports available in a timely manner. It's nice to get this information before the primary to assist in this important decision.