Strachan, Kaplan continue close fundraising race as election draws near

With the latest campaign finance reports filed in the District B City Council race, the pattern established earlier in the contest may be holding: Eric Strachan continues to hold a lead in fundraising, but Dana Kaplan appears to have nearly as much or more cash on hand in the final week before the Nov. 6 election.

LaToya Cantrell’s campaign continues to trail both Strachan and Kaplan in total money raised and spent, although her fundraising did outpace Kaplan’s during one part of the reporting period, the reports show.

Finally, Marlon “Buck” Horton filed a report stating that he did not raise or spend any money during the latest period.

According to campaign finance reports that were due to the Louisiana Board of Ethics today, Strachan raised $27,325 in the three weeks between Sept. 28, the date of the first report, and Oct. 17, leaving him with $21,244. During the same period, Kaplan raised $12,160 and ended with $20,411, the report states. Cantrell during that time received $20,320 in contributions, but ended with only $15,814 because she started with considerably less than the other two candidates at the beginning of the period.

But in supplemental reports filed in the two weeks since then, Kaplan records $19,200 in additional contributions, while Strachan reports $10,500 and Cantrell records only a single $1,000 contribution. Those reports only include transactions of more than $1,000 and very little spending, however, so the actual size of the candidates’ war chests at this point is difficult to determine.

Details of the latest reports include:

• Strachan’s noteworthy contributions in the reports include $2,500 each from investment banker Daniel Conwill IV, businessman Jay Lapeyre and John Ryan of Vail, Colo.; $2,000 from Katherine Gelderman, $1,000 from her husband, attorney Tony Gelderman, $1,500 from Rick’s Caberet owner Robert Watters, $1,000 from Le Bon Temps Roule, $1,000 from Audubon Properties (which appears to be registered to Christian G. Hooper), $500 from Ralph Brennan, and $250 from Houma-based former Democratic Congressional candidate Ravi Sangisetty, and $100 from City Councilwoman Jacquelyn Clarkson.
• Kaplan’s notable contributions in the reports are as follows: $2,500 from CTL Ventures of Metairie (registered to Carol T. Lagasse of the MCC Group), $2,500 from Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s own war chest, a total of $3,000 from six local trade unions, $1,500 each from Tulane law professor David Marcello and developer Sean Cummings, $1,000 each from two LLCs for buildings operated by developer Marcel Wisznia, $1,000 from state Rep. Walt Leger, $500 from Ravi Sangisetty (also a Strachan donor), $500 from Ten Ten LLC (registered to Joshua Rubenstein of New Orleans), $500 from the Royal Franklin Bar and $200 from school board candidate Sarah Usdin. The report also lists a $50 contribution from Nolan Marshall, an assistant director at the Cowen Institute for Public Education (and son of another school board candidate, Nolan Marshall Jr.).
• The major contributions listed in the Cantrell reports include donations of the $2,500 maximum each from Liberty Bank president Alden McDonald, Manning Architects and Etta Williams of Los Angeles; $1,500 from Pfizer, $1,500 from attorney Jason Williams (who previously ran for District Attorney), and $500 each from former mayoral candidate James Perry (who previously contributed to Kaplan) and restaurateur Ralph Brennan (also a Strachan donor).
• Strachan’s major expenses include more than $8,000 to Special Services Consulting LLC of New Orleans, $6,000 to Market Research Insights, $5,000 to the Discovery Group, $3,500 to Creative Marketing Solutions, $2,631 to Print All of Belle Chasse, $2,000 to Artvertising, $1,542 to Laredo Printing and $1,500 to Sublimedia.
• Kaplan’s major expenditures include nearly $6,000 to the Ourso firm Beychok of Baton Rouge for a variety of materials, more than $3,000 to Printers Wholesale Group of Metairie for signs and $11,000 to five campaign staff members and consultants: Lelia Gowland, Fletcher Rowley, Cassandra Smith, Danae Columbus (who also writes a weekly column for Uptown Messenger) and Samantha King.
• Cantrell’s major expenses were for about $9,000 to Cygnet Inc. for direct mailing and consulting, and $1,500 to the GCR consulting firm.

Strachan’s total reported fundraising for the election now exceeds $107,000, and his total reported spending is more than $76,000. Kaplan’s reported totals are roughly $86,000 in contributions, $15,000 in loans and $64,000 in spending. Cantrell reports raising roughly $53,000 and spending roughly $36,000.