Following the Money
Who’s lining up to support Jacksonville’s next mayor?
W
hen mayoral candidates must refer voters to the Supervisor of Elections’ website to see who their top donors are instead of being able to rattle them off — as Rick Mullaney has often done — it’s a good sign that some serious interests are influencing this year’s race. What started out as a crowded field of 16 candidates for Jacksonville’s top office has dwindled to just four candidates with campaign coffers big enough to be viable in the March 22 primary election. From pensions to pollution, Jacksonville’s next mayor will be faced with many challenges, and a look at their campaign finance records tells the tale of who’s likely to benefit. Republican candidates Rick Mullaney, Audrey Moran and Mike Hogan and Democrat Alvin Brown have collectively raised more than $1.6 million to fuel their bids to become Jacksonville’s next chief executive (according to the most recent records available at press time). The approach to cramming their coffers differs as widely as their plans to restore Jacksonville — Mullaney looking to stalwart local politicos, Moran seeking the center, Hogan courting union and Tea Party support and Brown leveraging Democratic Party connections. Where they got their money and how they spend it gives voters the best idea of what lies ahead when one of them is elected. Based on the number of television ads that have already hit the airwaves, it’s no surprise that Jacksonville’s former General Counsel and top pensioner, Rick Mullaney, has led the campaign money race from the start. In his campaign’s first quarter alone, he raised a record-setting $358,000 and gained the support of Protect The Taxpayers, a media-savvy 527 organization promoting job growth and government reduction. Mullaney donations poured in from all directions, with individual donations making up the lion’s share
of his take. Recent reports show that nearly 72 percent of his contributions comes from individuals from every walk of life in the county, ranging from homemaker to physician. Business and political contributions provide a substantial boost to his war chest, including $82,000 from attorneys and $139,000 from land developers and financiers. Well-known politicos and lobbyists have thrown their support behind Mullaney as well. Campaign finance reports list lobbyist Paul Harden and Associates and public relations firm Wiles Boselli LLC as supporters, along with Herb Peyton and three of his Gate Petroleum companies. With a substantial war chest at his disposal, Mullaney has spared few expenses and has already spent more than $360,000 on his mayoral run, including $214,000 on consulting services, $75,000 on office expenses and $35,000 for campaign events. Jacksonville’s second-largest mayoral fundraiser, Audrey Moran, fared half as well as Mullaney but has still managed to raise nearly $400,000. Like Mullaney, 71 percent of her supporters are listed as individual contributors, ranging from students to stockbrokers. Although Mullaney has locked up much of the local legal and real estate communities, Moran has still managed to net $45,000 from attorneys and $65,000 from developers and bankers. Her expenses have been far less extravagant than Mullaney’s, with only $28,000 going toward consulting services, $40,000 for office essentials and $20,000 for events. Finance reports did reveal a $2,995 September reimbursement for a Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Leadership trip that occurred shortly before she secured that organization’s endorsement. Longtime Jacksonville politician and incumbent Duval County Tax Collector Mike Hogan rounds out the top three mayoral
contenders with just over $370,000 in his campaign till. Endorsed by the police and fire unions, along with the Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, Hogan raised a third of his funds from business and political donations. He received generous support from local real estate interests and is second only to Mullaney in donations from Realtors, developers and bankers. From the $230,387 Mike Hogan spent to fund his bid, he’s paid for everything from consultants to face-painting clowns. Hogan’s expense report chronicles a $4,369 Westside pheasant-hunting event, and nearly $132,000 for consulting services, along with $48,000 in office expenses. Onetime Al Gore advisor Alvin Brown has trailed in campaign funding and received half of his funds from Democratic Party donations totaling more than $59,0000 — plus a maximum donation from Congresswoman Corrine Brown (no relation). Since September, Brown’s expenses have included $7,257 for photography, $827 for employee parking and $1,515 to host an event to woo his former colleagues at Washington, D.C.’s City Club. With $1.6 million raised, not one of the leading mayoral candidates has managed to top $700 in contributions from environmental groups, so it is a fair bet the St. Johns River may lose regardless of who wins. But if campaign habits are truly predictors of what’s to come, it’s safe to say Rick Mullaney will stay the course and let River City oligarchs continue to hold sway, Mike Hogan will keep it down-home with today’s Dixiecrats, Alvin Brown will seek convenient truths from his Beltway buddies and Audrey Moran might usher in some fresh sensibility. Nick Callahan themail@folioweekly.com
Callahan writes for the local political blog JaxPoliticsOnline.com
2011 JACKSONVILLE MAYORAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENSES CANDIDATE
BUSINESS & PARTY/PAC CONTRIBUTIONS
INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS
EXPENSES
Rick Mullaney
$199,117.12
$501,564.24
$700,681.36
($361,701.63)
Audrey Moran
$110,815.20
$274,256.23
$385,071.43
($286,295.99)
Mike Hogan
$123,428.64
$247,416.15
$370,844.79
($230,387.48)
Alvin Brown
$80,286.70
$86,038.15
$166,324.85
($33,083.35)
$1,109,274.77
$1,622,922.43
($911,468.45)
TOTALS
$513,647.66 CONTRIBUTIONS BY OCCUPATION TYPE
CANDIDATE
PAC/PARTIES
ATTORNEY
ENVIRONMENTAL
FINANCE & REAL ESTATE*
CONSULTING FEES
EXPENSES BY TYPE OFFICE EVENTS & LOGISTICS ENTERTAINMENT
Rick Mullaney
$200.00
$82,839.02
$400.00
$139,216.10
($214,770.13)
($75,675.30)
($35,560.25)
Audrey Moran
$1,000.00
$45,050.00
$500.00
$65,786.93
($12,000.00)
($40,216.38)
($20,236.12) ($14,297.31)
Mike Hogan
$1,500.00
$10,725.00
$700.00
$70,095.77
($132,115.26)
($48,547.32)
Alvin Brown
$59,251.70
$13,293.90
$0.00
$7,100.00
($907.00)
($15,502.29)
TOTALS
$61,951.70
$151,907.92
$1,600.00
$282,198.80
($359,792.39) ($179,941.29)
($2,676.07)
($72,769.75)
*Includes Bankers, Investment, Real Estate, Construction, Contractors, Engineers and Land Development Occupations
EXPENSE ODDITIES
MULLANEY
MORAN
Rick Mullaney
($674.40)
Auto Insurance
Audrey Moran
($2,995.00)
9/10 Jax Chamber Trip
Mike Hogan
($4,369.51)
Pheasant Hunt
Alvin Brown
($7,257.77)
Photos HOGAN
BROWN
MARCH 8-14, 2011 | FOLIO WEEKLY | 9