East Lansing City Council hopeful Ruth Beier raised more than $8,000 for her city council candidacy in the Nov. 5 election, with most of the funding coming from members of the Michigan Education Association, according to campaign finance reports submitted to the Ingham County Clerk’s office late last week.
Most of Beier’s contributions came from people who are not from the East Lansing area and were collected in April and May 2013.
With thousands of dollars in donations coming from MEA members, Beier, an economist with the organization, was able to raise $8,399. She earned the most campaign funding of any candidate in the election by far, with council candidate Susan Woods coming in a “distant second with $2,749 in total funds.
The MEA is one of the state’s largest labor unions and represents public school teachers and staff.
Beier said this is because she travels the state for work and asked her 102 colleagues affiliated with the MEA for donations. She indicated those who donated were more interested in her cause than East Lansing affairs.
“It’s pretty common for the MEA to donate to each other’s causes, and this case, the cause was me,” Beier said. “They are just interested in helping me. They aren’t concerned about East Lansing. … I’m not beholden to any of these people.”
Beier said getting campaign contributions from people outside the community helps remove her from the possibility of tying herself to community donors
“If someone gives me $500, they think they can come knock on my door and ask for something,” she said.
Beier said she wanted to raise a sizable amount at the beginning of her campaign, adding: “When I run for re-election, I see much more money coming from East Lansing,” she said.
As in many races, larger war chests are key for success. In the 2011 East Lansing City Council elections, Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett raised about $10,645. He brought in the highest number of votes of any candidate in that election.
Two of the other candidates in the 2013 council elections were late in filing pre-election campaign finance reports. Woods filed her reports past the Oct. 25 deadline, but has since filed the reports and paid the late fee.
Although Woods’ campaign finance reports indicate she contributed the majority of the $2,749 herself in loans, she said she will be getting all of that money back through financial commitments from supporters she hasn’t yet received.
Earlier this year, Woods ran into another issue with campaign finance law when she announced her candidacy via email on an account run by the East Lansing City Film festival. Woods apologized for the incident and called it an “innocent mistake.”
“I did not use it to solicit money, I used it to announce my candidacy,” she said. “I was naive.”
Candidate Ben Esseylinck originally planned on raising more than $1,000, but said Monday he was “overly optimistic about the money I could raise.” Esseylinck said he plans to apply to gain a waiver, but still is accountable for $210 in late fees plus $25 for every additional day for not filing his reports on time.
Esseylinck said although he was unable to raise $1,000, he still feels public support.
“I’ve received quite a bit of support but I have a strong moral objection against the amount of money needed to run,” he said. “I don’t think running a local campaign should cost a lot of money.”
Most of incumbent council member Kathleen Boyle’s contributions came through people who live within East Lansing city limits through a series of campaign fundraisers. She raised $2,270 total, and said fundraising for elections is not at the top of her list of favorite aspects that present themselves with city government.
“I had a couple of fundraisers, and people who I know brought people that they knew,” she said.
Council candidate Samantha Artley was granted a waiver because she did not plan to raise more than $1,000, according to Ingham County Chief Deputy Clerk Angela Wittrock.
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