Money in Local Politics: Bryan City Council Campaign Finance Reports

The campaign for the next mayor of Bryan is going to be expensive. Both candidates of mayor, current city councilmember Jason Bienski and former city councilmember Mitch Morehead, have raised a total of $36,645 and have spent a total of $20,440 with still a month left in the campaign at the time the campaign finance reports where submitted. However, three candidates out of the six for the other three city council campaigns reported raising no campaign cash, and two have reported spending no money on their campaigns, and one candidate has almost exclusively funded their campaign with their own money.

According to campaign finance reports, Bienski reported a total of $24,056 in political contributions, of which $4,835 was received from contributions of $50 or less and $6,596 was carried over from his last campaign. A total of $8,000 in contributions was received from donors who are residents of Bryan, and $4,625 was receive from donors outside of Bryan of which $3,375 came from residents of College Station. Bienski has also partially self financed his campaign with a loan of $3,000. There has been $9,542 political expenditures reported by the campaign, of which $3,666 was spent on advertising, $2,439 was spent on campaign signs, and $1,550 was paid to NSON Opinion Strategy to conduct and opinion poll. The campaign finance report filed by the Bienski campaign did not report the total political contributions maintain or cash on hand.

The Morehead campaign reported a total of $12,589 in political contributions, of which $1,414 was received from contributions of $50 or less. The campaign received a total of $7,975 in contributions from residents of Bryan, and $3,200 was receive from donors outside of Bryan all of which but $350 was from resident of College Station. The Morehead campaign has spent nearly 87% of the political contributions, and reported $10,898 in political expenditures. The expenses included $3,120 in advertising, $4,269 on campaign signs and $1,008 was spent on web site design and updates. The campaign reported $1,691 cash on hand.

Single Member District 1 candidate Al Saenz reported a total of $500 in political contributions, of which $300 was received from contributions of $50 or less, and all of the $250 in contributions reported where from residents of Bryan. The Saenz campaign reported $639 in political expenditures of which $589 was spent on campaign signs. The campaign finance report filed by the Saenz campaign did not report the total political contributions maintain or cash on hand.

According to campaign finance reports, Single Member District 3 candidate Bettye Pool reported a total of $171 in political contributions, and $150 received in contributions of $50 or less, and all of the $171 in contributions reported where from residents of Bryan. Pool’s campaign is basically self financed as the candidate reported a $4,400 loan to the campaign. The Poll campaign reported $3,503 in political expenditures of which $1,150 was spent on campaign signs, $766 was spent on direct mail, $485 was spent on advertising, and $1,031 was spent on door hangers, car magnets and small signs. The campaign reported $0 cash on hand.

Single Member District 3 candidate Chuck Konderla reported a total of $3,150 in political contributions, of which $1,723 was from contributions of $50 or less. The Konderla campaign reported $2,100 in contributions received from residents of Bryan, and $950 in contributions from donors outside of Bryan of which $500 came from residents of College Station. All but $53 of political contributions was spent by the Konderla campaign as $4,819 in political expenditures was reported. The campaign spent $767 on political signs, $1,968 on large signs and car magnets, and $1,860 on marketing services from The Bright Company.

The campaigns of Richard Cortez, who is a candidate for Single Member District 1, and Paul Madison, who is a candidate for Single Member District 2, both reported no political contributions, no political expenditures, and no cash on hand. The Howard Hill campaign, a candidate for Single Member District 2, reported no political contributions, but reported $655 in political expenditures of which the majority was spent on campaign signs.

Money in Local Politics: College Station City Council Campaign Finance Reports