Ron Roberts more than doubled the campaign fundraising efforts of Stephen Whitburn over the last three months, according to campaign disclosure reports filed Tuesday.
Whitburn, a community health advocate for the American Red Cross, is vying to unseat the incumbent Roberts as the county supervisor who represents the region’s urban core. With the economic slump, both campaigns forecasted that fundraising would be a challenge this fall.
But Roberts has reported steeper gains recently. He raised about $127,000 while Whitburn pulled in $51,000. Those totals marked a significant boost for both candidates compared to fundraising during the first half of the year when they raised $157,000 and $45,000 respectively.
In August, disclosure reports showed a narrowed gap in the campaigns’ treasuries after Roberts unloaded much on his war chest on consultants and literature near the June primary. The reports filed Tuesday show Roberts has widened the gap even though he’s spent more than Whitburn.
Roberts spent $112,000 over the three-month period ending Sept. 30 and reported $57,000 in outstanding debt. Whitburn spent $56,000 and reported $13,000 in debt. Including previous funds, cash on hand for each campaign totaled $93,000 (Roberts) and $18,000 (Whitburn).
County election officials have posted the reports for Roberts and for Whitburn online. Let me know if you see anything interesting in them.
Please contact Keegan Kyle directly at keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5668 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/keegankyle.