Money pouring into Merced County political races as campaigns head to finish line
The election is a week away and Merced candidates have reported the final contributions required before Election Day.
District 6 candidate Delray Shelton has in the past month seen the largest influx of donations entering local races. He doubled the money raised by his campaign to $16,329, records show.
Through Sept. 22, he had $8,771, and more than $5,000 of that was a loan he made to the campaign. Since then he’s gotten a $1,000 donation from the Merced City Firefighters PAC.
The Merced County Sheriff’s sergeant picked up $500 donations each from the North Labor Federation PAC, Gallo Cattle Company of Atwater, retiree Brian Shelton of Atwater, Sheriff’s Detective Simon Sarkis of Modesto and the Merced Police Officers Association.
He’s spent about $15,900 in his attempt to beat opponent John Bliss, a Buhach Colony High teacher.
Bliss missed the deadline to report contributions through Oct. 20, as he did the previous deadline, according to the city clerk’s office. The older report said he raised about $3,500, including a $1,000 contribution from Merced business owner Scott Neal, through Sept. 28.
Seeking a second term in office, Mayor Mike Murphy has far outpaced any other candidate on the ballot in a city-level race with $46,340 raised through Oct. 20, according to public records. His campaign has spent nearly $34,000 of it.
Murphy reported in the newest filing that he received $1,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric for a total of $2,000 this year from PG&E. Another $1,000 came in this month from Valley Prime Hospitality Inc., a Merced hotel owner.
The Murphy campaign contributed $150 to Atwater Councilman Brian Raymond, who is running for District 4 against Don Hyler III.
Murphy’s opponent, homeless advocate Monica Kay Villa filed paperwork noting she does not intend to raise or spend more than $2,000. A homeless woman herself, Villa has been involved in multiple Merced elections going back until at least 2013.
Merced Councilmember Kevin Blake, a Merced County Sheriff’s sergeant, has collected the second most money in Merced, dwarfing the donations garnered by candidate Karla Seijas, a UC Merced employee.
Blake’s $22,544 received its most recent bump of $636 from Christopher Townsend, the president of Townsend Public Affairs of Sacramento. He got donations of $500 each from PG&E and the campaign to re-elect Assemblymember Adam Gray, D-Merced.
Blake’s spent more than $19,000 on his race.
Twenty-one donations of $250 or less have been collected for a total of $3,625 to Seijas’ campaign. Records show she’s spent $2,055, primarily on signs and campaign literature.
Of the $2,259 raised by Merced District 2 write-in candidate Ronnie De Anda, $1,000 came from the Merced City Firefighters PAC, records show. Blake also gave him $200.
Fernando Echevarria, who is vying for District 2, has raised $200.
This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 3:20 PM.