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I stopped by the county registrar today to check out how much the San Diego Unified school board candidates are raising and spending on their campaigns. We already gave you the skinny on what the candidates had scraped up late last year, but here’s a new rundown of school board campaign contributions and spending from January to mid-March:
• The biggest spender was Stephen Rosen, a business owner who has bought magnetic signs, mailers and a whole lot of consulting in his bid to unseat Katherine Nakamura. His donations have been sluggish compared to his competitors, though, and he already loaned himself $90,000 earlier in the campaign.
ROSEN’S CONTRIBUTIONS: $3,585
HIS EXPENDITURES: $30,950
• The biggest earner was Nakamura, whose donors range from former City Council candidate April Boling to the head of the Union of Pan-Asian Communities, Margaret Iwanaga-Penrose, to a long list of construction companies.
NAKAMURA’S CONTRIBUTIONS: $15,969 including a $500 loan
HER EXPENDITURES: $4,107
• Close behind Nakamura in contributions is John de Beck, another incumbent who has tapped donors from construction companies to retired school administrators. But de Beck hasn’t opened his wallet much yet. Most of his spending was to pay the county to file and submit his ballot statement.
DE BECK’s CONTRIBUTIONS: $12,900
HIS EXPENDITURES: $1,601
• Kevin Beiser, a middle school math teacher who is competing against Nakamura and just got the Democrats’ endorsement, raised less than half as much as de Beck. His donors included fellow teachers and David Valladolid, CEO of the Parent Institute for Quality Education. But Beiser is already spending on mailers, signs and consulting.
BEISER’S CONTRIBUTIONS: $6,067
HIS EXPENDITURES: $15,080
• Political consultant Scott Barnett, who is trying to replace de Beck and won support from the teachers union, jumped into the race later than the other candidates and loaned himself money for his own campaign. His handful of early donors includes Kevin Elliott, the CEO of ROEL Construction.
BARNETT’S CONTRIBUTIONS: $5,995 including a $1,600 loan and $3,745 in non-monetary donations
HIS EXPENDITURES: $5,144
• Finally, school psychologist Michelle Crisci, another competitor to replace de Beck, has filed a form saying she won’t be raising or spending more than $1,000 on the race, so she didn’t have to file more detailed reports.
— EMILY ALPERT