In the race for East Lansing City Council, incumbent Vic Loomis might have raised the most money, according to campaign finance reports released Friday, but challenger John Fournier has spent the most so far.
The reports, which are on Ingham County's Web site, contain information regarding each candidate's source of contributions and how much money they have spent, as well as breaking these numbers down to the penny. The candidates were required to turn in their campaign finance reports to the Ingham County Clerk's office by Friday.
Incumbent Councilmember Bill Sharp, who raised and spent the second-highest amount of money, $ 3,825.00 and $1,333.15 respectively, said he did very little fundraising for the election.
"It's because the people love me," he said. "People were sending me checks because they want to see me re-elected. I have a core group of people that have supported me for the last three elections."
Both East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows and Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh gave $100 each to Loomis and challenger Kevin Beard.
"I don't believe Councilmember Sharp asked for money from anybody," Meadows said.
Some of Sharp's funding has come from developers, including Pat Gillespie, of Gillespie Development & Management who helped to plan The Beaumont, a housing complex in the Northern Tier.
With the exception of Fournier, each report shows a similar "nest-egg" saving trend among the candidates.
"It's nice to have some in the bank," Sharp said. " My philosophy is to wait and see where the people tell you you need to be doing things and where you need a push. That's when you have to spend it. That's my strategy. After the elections, if you look at it you'll see I'm spending it all."
Although candidates can accept up to $500 from any individual donor, Loomis said he has a self-imposed limit of $100 per person. Loomis spent the third highest amount of money on his campaign.
"I have very strong feelings about this," he said. "I only take it from East Lansing residents, business owners or property owners. I don't take money from outside of the community. I only take money from people I'm elected to represent."
Loomis' donations include $250 from Jim Hagan of Hagan Realty Co., who owns more than 100 properties throughout East Lansing.
Fournier said he accepted money from outside of the community as well as East Lansing voters, including political activist Bob Alexander who ran for the 8th district of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004. Fournier raised the third highest amount of money for his campaign and received $250 from Vermont-based Democracy for America, founded by Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee.
"I figure I've got enough money to get what I need," Fournier said. "All of the money a campaign spends should go back to the voters. These campaign statements are pre-election day, so when you look at next week, I bet there's a lot of money spent."
Beard, who raised and spent the least amount of money, said he has been "knocking on doors and hanging paper all over town" since Labor Day as well as soliciting through the mail and hosting a small fundraising event.
"I've been making expenses out of my own pocket," he said. "I've used (money) for postage, printing costs and envelopes, you know, standard stuff."
