The latest July to October fundraising figures are in for local races, with far-right firebrand Robert Beadles giving mayoral candidate Eddie Lorton $4,799.70 in August, and developers, casinos and firefighters giving tens of thousands of dollars to local candidates.
Lorton is currently promoting an October 27th debate with Mayor Hillary Schieve (see screenshot below) to be moderated by the often quoted by Beadles Nevada Globe, but it seems unlikely the incumbent was even consulted with this idea. We emailed her office but have yet to hear back.
Lorton’s expenses include $42,000 to JB Marketing, as his campaign ramps up its presence on signs, social media and with promotional videos.
Schieve received $5,000 from Elect Oscar Delgado (who presumably won’t need that money for himself anymore, now that he’s stepped down from Council), $10,000 from the Builders Association of Northern Nevada (whose Board of Directors are major developers), and $5,000 from the Reno Fire Fighters Association. She gave a whopping $98,745 to Fong Menante Media, perhaps to be filmed dunking herself in the Truckee River.
Has Mayor Schieve even been alerted to this?
Jay Kenny, the challenger in the Ward 2 race, also got $10,000 from the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, $9,000 from the Bob Lucey Campaign Fund (who lost his primary to keep his County Commission seat) and thousands more from casinos, while spending over six figures with Reach Plus Consulting. His total contributions in excess of $100 for the quarter amounted to nearly $115,000, the highest by far of all Council candidates, with Schieve getting the second most at $45,493.
Kenny’s challenger, the incumbent Naomi Duerr, got just over $40,000, with $5,000 from the Reno Fire Fighters Association, and $2,500 from the Atlantis. Her money mostly went to Tallac Strategies.
In the Ward 4 race, Bonnie Weber got $7,500 from the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, while spending her biggest chunk with Davis Rounds Advertising. Her challenger Meghan Ebert got her biggest donation from the Reno Fire Fighters Association at $5,000 with most of her spending on Lamar Advertising.
While casinos and developers come as no surprise as big spenders, and Beadles has made himself known of late attracting media attention, making websites, sending text messages and flyers to local mailboxes, the firefighters, although of course allowed to do so, it seems put themselves in favorable conditions for whenever their wages and budgets are decided.