Fundraising key in Gray-Fenty showdown

With the Democratic primary now in full swing, this year’s mayoral election could end up being one of the most, if not the most, expensive in Washington, D.C.'s, history. 

The spending patterns match to some extent how the race has played out up until now. And the last spending surges could determine how the vote will sway on Tuesday. 

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For District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty, there appeared to be no shortage of campaign funds. His campaign alone stands poised to break every fundraising record in the district. The incumbent raised roughly $4.6 million, compared with $1.3 million raised by his late-to-the-game opponent Vincent Gray, who entered the race in early April. 

However, the tables turned when Washington, D.C., Council Chairman Vincent Gray out-raised Fenty for the second straight campaign reporting period. According to financial reports filed with the Office of Campaign Finances for June 11 to Aug. 10, Gray received donations of more than $706,000. 

Since entering the race, Gray has played a game of catch-up to Fenty’s soaring fundraising. In last-ditch efforts before the primary, Gray’s donations more than doubled Fenty’s $308,000.

“We’re basically a collective of information, in terms of reports filed,” said Wesley Williams, the office’s spokesman.  “The candidates or their committees are responsible for filing reports of receipts and expenditures, showing the amount of money that they’ve raised, as well as spent, during those various time periods.” 

The mayor did, however, manage to spend more than Gray during the same period, with expenditures totaling more than $1.8 million, compared with $393,000 for Gray. Some of the funds went toward yard signs and other campaign supplies. On top of that, Fenty allocated more than $976,000 of the $1.8 million to advertising, including a set of six 15-second television ads. The mayor also shelled out plenty of cash for canvassers who took to the streets distributing literature in support of the candidate. 

Besides advertising, Fenty spent more than $736,000 on salaries and stipends. The number of staffers on payroll versus volunteers is one of the reasons the mayor’s campaign surpassed his previous 2006 campaign in expenditures.

Gray runs a thriftier campaign with respect to the number of staffers, spending more than $190,000 in the same period. But staffers are not the only ones likely to affect how the race plays out. 

“The main thing is the number of independent expenditures that have occurred during this mayoral election,” Williams said. This year’s races soared in independent expenditures, which constitutes "an individual or a committee that’s made, in layman’s terms, on that committee’s own or if the person decides to do it by him or herself."

For example, groups such as the Community Labor Coalition for Change Committee can do more than make a simple contribution of $2,000, which is the maximum donation amount. Williams said many groups choose to buy pamphlets, newspaper ad space or radio air time. However, such expenditures must be made “without any type of consultation or collusion with the candidate that the individual or committee might support,” Williams said. 

This year, such groups and individuals forged major changes in the races.

“You’ve had some committees that have formed, it seems, for the purpose of doing that,” Williams said. “Those committees have had to register with us, because they’re in the process of collecting money, as well as expending.”

Williams said many of those committees formed after the latest filing period. For that reason, “There really is no information on them in terms of money raised or spent,” he said. Such numbers will not appear until the Oct.10 report. 

But there are plenty of other notable donors on Fenty’s list, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who donated $2,000 on July 14, according to the OFC.

As to whether Fenty’s campaign will shatter fundraising records in Washington, D.C., Williams said, “That might be a possibility.” But the office does not release analysis or comparisons of data.