Midnight will mark the end of the first Pre-Primary campaign finance reporting period, which means a number of candidates are making final pushes so they can show strong support when the reports come out.
“Let me be straight with you — our opponent came into this raise with a cash advantage, but with you help I know we can close this gap today and not only send a message that our momentum is based not only on community support and endorsements, but it is based on resources as well. Our opponent’s allies have started smearing Roger’s record,” wrote Andrew Feldman, Roger Berliner’s campaign manager, in a Tuesday email to supporters.
Berliner’s Campaign Committee reported $52,000 in available money with his 2014 Annual Report in January. Berliner did little fundraising in 2013 and was caught off guard by Duchy Trachtenberg’s entry into the race on the filing deadline day. With a reported $122,574 in campaign funds left over from previous races, Trachtenberg had a decided money advantage in January.
The Pre-Primary reports will show how much each candidate raised in the time since.
Feldman said Berliner’s campaign was looking for $1,630 in donations before Tuesday’s midnight deadline.
“I need to raise $11,750 more to pay for printing and mailing a brochure to voters about how we make our future better,” wrote county executive candidate and Councilmember Phil Andrews in an email to supporters on Tuesday. “Each brochure costs about 9 cents, so every $100 you contribute will pay to print more than 1,100 brochures!”
“Civic-minded people like you make the difference in my campaign because – unlike my opponents — I refuse campaign funds from all interest groups: from developers, from PACs, from unions, and from corporations,” Andrews continued.
County Executive Isiah Leggett, one of those opponents, was also looking for more support on Tuesday.
“This is important – tonight marks Ike’s biggest filing deadline of the year so far,” wrote Leggett campaign manager Scott Goldberg. “As his campaign manager, I know how critical it is to beat these deadlines. The primary is in just a few weeks, and we need to have the resources available to run a winning campaign. That’s why Ike needs your help today.”
Leggett showed a significant cash advantage over Andrews and Doug Duncan in the January numbers and raised almost $250,000 in a big-name Potomac fundraiser last week.
Goldberg wrote that the campaign was $3,000 away from its goal on Tuesday.
In races that likely won’t require the amount of campaign contributions in the county executive battle, smaller amounts can apparently make big differences.
“This past weekend, I was canvassing with volunteers in Wheaton and one of the voters I had the honor of meeting, told me: go ahead and place your campaign yard-sign in my front-yard. Then, when I was ready to say good-bye to continue my canvassing work, she suddenly handed me a $5 bill as a campaign contribution,” wrote District 18 House of Delegates candidate Natali Fani-Gonzalez, in a fundraising deadline plea to supporters on Monday. “In all honesty, I broke down in tears. Friends, it’s not how much money I’m getting from a particular donor. It’s the fact that I’m getting a contribution – no matter how small – to validate the fact that people support me.”
