In less than three weeks, Juneau will have a new mayor. <\/p>\n
The March 15 special mayoral election is quickly approaching, and if this campaign season feels different than last fall\u2019s, it\u2019s not just because of the weather.\u00a0There\u2019s a lot more money pouring into \u2014 and out of \u2014 each mayoral candidate\u2019s coffers than during the fall election cycle. One candidate in particular is really raking it in. <\/p>\n
As of Feb. 12, mayoral candidate Ken Koelsch had raised almost $42,000, nearly doubling opponent Karen Crane\u2019s $21,540. Both candidates, however, have raised much more money than either mayoral candidate had a month out from last October\u2019s election. In fact, Crane alone has more than doubled the funds incumbent mayor Merrill Sanford and opponent Greg Fisk had raised at this point in their race. Koelsch has quadrupled their combined funds.<\/p>\n
The Alaska Public Offices Commission, the regulatory body that monitors campaign finances, requires candidates seeking public office to file regular reports, detailing how much money they have raised and how they are spending it. One of these campaign disclosure reports is due 30 days before the election in which the candidate is running. <\/p>\n
When Fisk filed his 30-day report, he had raised $9,384 but had only spent $930. Sanford didn\u2019t even have to file a 30-day report because he had declared to APOC that he didn\u2019t intend to spend more than $5,000, exempting him from the filing process.<\/p>\n
Former mayors Bruce Botelho and Sanford both have explanations for the difference in fundraising and spending between this election and the last.<\/p>\n
If you ask Sanford, who has endorsed Koelsch, one of the main differences between this race and the one he ran in only months ago is that the ballot only contains mayoral candidates this time. In addition to the mayoral seat, there were two Assembly seats and two Juneau Board of Education seats up for grabs during the last general election. Eleven candidates were running for the various seats, and Sanford said that helped to limit the amount of money any one candidate could raise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pot of money going into the candidates is the same as before; it\u2019s just going to two people instead of six or seven or eight,\u201d Sanford told the Empire on Friday in a phone interview.<\/p>\n
Four-term mayor Botelho, a Crane supporter, offered a slightly different take on Crane and Koelsch\u2019s phenomenal fundraising. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a highly contested race where there are clear philosophical differences on the future of the Assembly, so it\u2019s not surprising this is generating a lot of interest and a lot of campaign contributions,\u201d he said by phone Friday. He also noted that the \u201ccondensed\u201d nature of the special election likely has candidates ahead of where they might be at the 30-day point during a regular election cycle.<\/p>\n
Though Koelsch has raised almost double what Crane has, he has not outspent her by the same margin. In his 30-day report, Koelsch declared that he had spent about $14,000. Crane, on the other hand, had spent close to $12,000. This is important because Botelho said that candidates typically begin pulling out all the stops as the election draws nearer. This week, he estimates, residents will begin to hear more radio spots and see more ads in the newspaper. <\/p>\n
As the number of days until the election dwindles, though, the election can become a war of attrition in which the candidate with the most money wins the most exposure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what you find generally is that the candidate who spends the most is the one who gets elected,\u201d Botelho said.<\/p>\n
Though she is trailing slightly in spending and significantly in fundraising, Crane said that her campaign has all the money it needs to be competitive, and it is on track to hit its fundraising goal, which she wouldn\u2019t disclose. Crane said she doesn\u2019t want to make a big deal about money though because \u201cit\u2019s not the issue on this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the winner is going to be whoever gets the most voters out,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is some money tied to that, but it\u2019s not everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Botelho, most mayoral candidates typically spend about $25,000 to $30,000 on their elections. Crane is quickly closing in on those numbers. Koelsch has already surpassed them by a wide margin, which he said is \u201chumbling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople clearly appreciate the point of view,\u201d he said in a Thursday phone interview. The way he sees it, the amount of money he has raised shows how many people disagreed with the Assembly\u2019s decision to hold a special election, a venture that will cost the city about $35,000. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou might look at it in that the money that I\u2019ve raised was freely given,\u201d he said. \u201cThe money for the special election was taken from every taxpayer in town. There\u2019s a huge difference there.\u201d <\/p>\n
Though the $35,000 special election does come out of the city\u2019s budget and ultimately out of taxpayers\u2019 pockets, there is a silver lining to this special election: economic stimulation. Between the cost of the special election \u2014 more than half of which will pay election workers\u2019 wages \u2014 and the money being spent by the Crane and Koelsch campaigns, this election will have a \u201cpositive\u201d economic impact on the city, according to Brian Holst, director of the Juneau Economic Development Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you could safely say, \u2018yes, it\u2019s a positive impact,\u2019 but I think you\u2019d be going out on a limb to say that it\u2019s a significant impact,\u201d Holst said Friday. \u201cYou certainly could make the case that it\u2019s a $100,000 boost to the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
And one Juneau resident in particular has felt the benefit of the special election. Daryl Miller, the owner of Commercial Signs and Printing, has had a busier couple of weeks than he anticipated when he printed the last election sign for the fall elections. His company prints many of the campaign signs each election. In fact, Crane and Koelsch have already spent a combined $6,341.27 at Miller\u2019s printing shop. <\/p>\n
Miller said that he sees the special election as a \u201cdouble-edged sword.\u201d As a taxpayer and Juneau citizen, he is a little concerned whether it will impact the city\u2019s fiscal standing as it heads into uncertain economic times. But \u201cfrom the business side, it\u2019s been great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or at sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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