ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones again failed to keep pace with the fundraising of her challenger, Alderwoman Cara Spencer, a task made harder in recent weeks following the mayor’s distant second-place finish in the March 4 primary. Spencer and her political action committee together raised over $375,000 over the last month, according to the most recent campaign finance filings, compared to about $179,000 Mayor Jones and the PAC supporting her raised. Spencer’s haul put her campaign at almost $1.1 million in total contributions this election, according to the reports, filed Monday. The PAC supporting her raised another $580,000. Jones’ campaign has raised $991,000 over the course of the campaign, while her PAC raised another $232,000. Spencer’s campaign and PAC spent almost $380,000 over the last month, and a combined $1.4 million on the campaign thus far, with about $140,000 left to spend in the campaign’s final days.
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Jones and her PAC spent $280,000 over the last month, bringing their combined spending to more than $1.3 million over the whole campaign cycle and leaving the mayor’s campaign and PAC with about $80,000 in the bank. Spencer in March won votes from some 68% of voters. Jones finished second, with 33%. Donors to the two camps followed familiar patterns. Developers in St. Louis have flocked to Spencer. Clayco founder Bob Clark has been a prolific donor to Spencer, with he and his companies sending over $130,000 Spencer’s way. In March, the alderwoman’s PAC received another $50,000 from a Clayco affiliated firm, the Lamar Johnson Collaborative, an architecture firm that works with Clayco, according to the Monday filings. Clark, his wife and other Clayco executives donated at least another $8,000 to Spencer’s campaign. Also kicking in for Spencer, according to the new filings: former Mayor Lyda Krewson; Byron Clemens, with the local teacher’s union; Tom Carnahan, a Democratic party fundraiser and son of former Gov. Mel Carnahan; Lacy Clay, the former St. Louis congressman; John Dubinsky, a retired banker and civic booster; and Tim Person, treasurer of Comptroller Darlene Green’s PAC. Jones, meanwhile, took in big money from her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, which gave $10,000 to her PAC. Also donating to Jones were Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, the Grand Center Arts District boosters; former Build-A-Bear CEO Maxine Clark; political consultants David Barklage and Richard Callow; the United Auto Workers; and Alderman Shane Cohn. Comptroller contributions
In the race for comptroller, meanwhile, challenger Donna Baringer outraised and outspent 30-year incumbent Darlene Green. Baringer, a former state representative and alderwoman from St. Louis Hills, took in almost $88,000 in contributions over the last month. Green and the PAC supporting her raised $35,000. Baringer, who came in ahead of Green by just 532 votes first in the March 4 primary, spent over $116,000 in the last month of campaigning. Green and her PAC shelled out $75,000. Over the election cycle, Baringer raised some $200,000. Green and her PAC took in about $78,000. But Green was sitting on a large war chest as she faced her first real challenge for the office in decades. She still had about $64,000 between her campaign account and the PAC to spend in the final days of the race. Baringer had just less than $22,000 in the bank. Most recently, donors to Baringer included the St. Louis Police Officers Association, landlord Pete Rothschild, former city development director Barb Geisman and plaintiff attorney and civic booster Jerry Schlichter. Clark and two other Clayco employees pitched in some $6,600.
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