Campaign money totals from all city candidate hopefuls were due to the clerk's office Monday. In the mayoral race, incumbent Dave Cieslewicz leads fundraising efforts, while Lauren Woods leads in the District 8 aldermanic race.
After receipts and expenditures, the total dollar amounts for mayor candidates are $101,000 for Cieslewicz and $74,000 for challenger Ray Allen.
As far as money from individual contributions, Cieslewicz raised more than $43,000, while Allen had close to $29,000.
District 8 alder candidates Lauren Woods and Eli Judge raised significantly less money than the mayor's race. Woods raised just over $2,000 total, and Judge had a total of $789. The Woods campaign amassed $4,600 from individual contributions, while Judge made $3,100.
Megan McGrorty, Cieslewicz's campaign manager, said the campaign money the mayor raised was through numerous small donors. She said because the mayor ran a grassroots campaign, people responded positively. Cieslewicz had well over 250 donors.
""He feels very good about it,"" McGrorty said. ""All the contributions we have come from a wide support in the community. It's all smaller donations, and that's really what this campaign is all about.""
Ray Allen ran his campaign slightly differently, according to Semmi Pasha, treasurer for Ray Allen. He said Allen has constructed a successful campaign made possible by nearly 200 donors. Pasha said Allen's message of ""fighting crime through fighting poverty"" has received enormous support.
""Folks support that—the office is quite a buzz. We have stuff going on everywhere,"" Pasha said. ""We are thrilled. Tired, but thrilled.""
According to Woods, most of her campaign money went toward printing literature and answering campaign calls. She said her campaign money comes from more than 150 donors, who she said made it possible for her to run a strong campaign because she was unable to donate her own money.
""I knew that I just didn't have the money to put in myself ... but I'm happy to know that I have people who believe in me enough to invest their money towards [my campaign],"" Woods said.
Still, Judge, who contributed much of his own money to his campaign, said his campaigning is based more on reaching out to students through face-to-face efforts. He said although the majority of his money has been spent on literature, going door-to-door is free and necessary.
""It's nice to have a piece of [literature] in your hand,"" Judge said. ""But just getting to know your constituency is free. It's tough, but it's free.""
