Murphy outpacing competition in fundraising

Cash is flowing into the Merced mayor’s race, and the candidate with the most money through June 30 outpaces the second-highest earner by three times.

Mike Murphy, a sitting City Council member who has announced a run for the mayor’s seat, has raised $60,370 from June 1, 2015, through the end of this June. Candidates with committees were required to file campaign contribution documents by Aug. 1, according to the city clerk’s office.

Mayor Pro-Tem Josh Pedrozo, who also is seeking the mayor’s seat, garnered $15,562 through the end of the filing period. His contributions paperwork included another $6,700 he received in July. The state Fair Political Practices Commission’s filing period ended in June, and Pedrozo said he intends to file an amendment correcting the submitted forms.

Another mayoral candidate, Necola Adams, who caters through The Cookie Lady’s Bakery & Cafe, comes in at third in contributions with a total of $1,266 in donations, according to her filed paperwork. She said she gathered another roughly $700 before the end of the filing period and intends to file an amendment with the clerk’s office that would bring her total to about $2,100.

Murphy’s largest contribution to date of $2,390 came from Favier Ranch LLC, a family-owned farm company that does business in Merced County. He’s also received donations from Citizens for the Betterment of Merced County, a group of local business owners, of $2,349, and $2,300 from Salvadori Realty.

Merced City Firefighters PAC contributed $2,300 to Murphy’s campaign, and another $2,000 came from the Merced Police Officers Association.

Several contributors donated $1,000 each to Pedrozo’s campaign during the filing period. Donations of that size came from Forebay Farms; Northern California Carpenters Regional Council; Fagundes, Fagundes and Fagundes; Drive Committee FEC; and Valley Prime Hospitality Inc.

All of Adams’ funding came from individual donors in amounts of $200 or less, which included $100 from Rodrigo Espinoza, the Livingston mayor who won the June race for the Merced County District 1 supervisor seat.

Merced’s mayor will be elected by a citywide vote in November, but three City Council seats will be voted on by districts for the first time. Districts 1, 3 and 5 are up for election this year.

Only candidates with an election committee are required to file contribution paperwork in August, according to the city clerk’s office.

District 1 has drawn three candidates, according to the Merced County Registrar of Voters Office. Sonia Fernanda Alshami, Lakisha Jenkins and Jesse Ornelas have pulled papers for the district in the southeastern end of Merced.

Only Alshami has filed campaign contributions ($450) with the city clerk.

The downtown District 3 has three hopefuls. Jill McLeod and Monica Kay Villa have pulled papers with the county, while Daniel Kazakos has filed his committee with the city.

Kazakos contributed $600 to his campaign, the total he raised through the filing period, according to city paperwork.

The most crowded race to date is for District 5, which is toward the northwest of the city. Mary Camper, Denise Rossi, Matthew Serrato and Daniel Sabzehzar have pulled papers with the county, according to records.

Sabzehzar has gathered $887 in contributions through the filing period.

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Murphy outpacing competition in fundraising."