This analysis follows a March 24 article examining the historical voting records for each Georgetown candidate. All but one candidate used city secretary Shelley Nowling to notarize their campaign finance report. Nancy Penner, who notarized District 2 candidate David Sray’s report, also donated $75 to his campaign. None of the candidates reported outstanding loans.
Mayor
• Incumbent Mayor Dale Ross on his report noted total political contributions were $21,944.20, the largest of any Georgetown candidate running for office, including $605.17 in contributions of $50 or less. He also received donations from the most people, 38 donors with two donating twice. His total political expenditures were $16,972.93. Ross maintained $3,794.60 of his contributions as of the last day of the reporting period.
Ross received $2,000 from Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and his wife, Beverly Chody. He received nine donations larger than $1,000. Bill Nations of Nations Realty and Investments donated to Ross twice for a total of $4,339.03—the largest amount received by a candidate from a single donor.
Ross also received monetary donations from business entities 4D Insurance Agency LLC and Novak Operating LLC. Others who donated to Ross include: Bob Brent of Georgetown Commercial Properties; Charles Carter, President for Cuero Family Partnerships; Timothy Haynie of Haynie Consulting—a civil engineering and land surveying company; Andy Webb—a partner at Watkins Insurance Group; Linda Foster-Smith, who sits on the board of Texas Mutual Insurance Company; Josh Schroeder—an attorney at law group Sneed Vine; Todd Woods, president of FTWOODS Construction; and rancher John Yearwood, who made news in 2015 when he challenged the Environmental Protection Act.
Ross, the only candidate who paid for political consulting, spent $2,600 to hire Omega Stratagem. He also spent $16,072.93 in advertising, well beyond any other candidate. Ross paid $2,338.57 to Community Impact Newspaper, $7,811 to Fidelis Publishing Group, which publishes the Advocate, and $1,732 to the Williamson County Sun.
• Challenger Sherwin Kahn, who said he is self-funding his campaign, received political contributions totaling $800, the least of any candidate. The entire $800, the largest in-kind donation to any candidate, came in the form of signage artwork and design from Graphismo.
His campaign noted expenditures of $1,032.38 paid by credit card to Doublewide Décor—$780—for printing, Fenomenal Flashe Empire—$90—for translation of campaign materials into Spanish, and GTX Awards and Engraving—$162.38—for printing.
Kahn, who donated $100 to District 2 challenger David Sray’s campaign, also donated $100 to District 6 incumbent Council Member Rachael Jonrowe’s campaign.
District 2
• David Sray noted total political contributions were $5,529, including $1,654 in contributions of $50 or less. His total political expenditures were $1,603.71. Sray maintained $3,925.29 of his contributions as of the last day of the reporting period.
Sray received an in-kind donation of $450 for photo services donated by Joni Lorraine. The largest donation Sray received was $1,000 from Larry Olson. Sray also received a donation of $100 from Sherwin Kahn, who is running for mayor against incumbent Dale Ross. Sray received $100 from Suzanne Roguemore and Doug Smith, who each also donated $100 to Rachael Jonrowe—who is running for reelection in District 6. Sray’s other notable donors include Kristie Loescher, a senior lecturer at the McCombs School of Business, and Nancy Knight, a real estate agent.
Sray is the only candidate so far that has logged personal expenses and reimbursement on his Campaign Finance Report. Sray spent and reimbursed himself $335.10 for costs including printing, advertising, banking fees and solicitation.
• Valerie Nicholson noted total political contributions were $6,450, including $2,100 total political contributions of $50 or less. Her total political expenditures were $3,972.42. Nicholson maintained $2,477.58 of her contributions as of the last day of the reporting period.
Nicholson’s largest donation of $1,000 came from real estate agent Karen Curry. She also received donations from real estate agents Anita Pantillion and Wade Todd.
District 6
• Challenger Lawrence Romero noted his total political contributions were $7,850. His total political expenditures were $4,106.12. Romero maintained $3743.88 of his contributions as of the last day of the reporting period on April 5.
Romero logged the highest amount spent on food and beverages, with $485.86 of his campaign funds going to H-E-B and $101.57 to Papa Johns. This $587.43 marks 14.3 percent of his total campaign expenses.
Romero received monetary donations from The Hudson Road Trust, Law Office of Randall Grimes, Wild Wood Construction and Development LLC, Shawn F. Hood LLC, and Francisco Choi AIA. Similar to Ross, Romero also received a donation from Timothy Haynie of Haynie Consulting. Terrence Irion donated $250 each to Romero and Valerie Nicholson, who is running against Sray for District 2.
• Incumbent Council Member Rachael Jonrowe noted total political contributions were $9,918.75, including $3,750 in contributions of $50 or less. Her total political expenditures were $1,644.15. Jonrowe maintained $9,918.75 of her contributions as of the last day of the reporting period.
Jonrowe received $537.50 of in-kind donations for printing costs from Doublewide Décor. She spent $800 printing with Doublewide Décor and another $633.25 printing with Ink Images.
Jonrowe’s donors show some of the closest ties to advocacy for social issues. She received donations from Rev. Mark Skrabacz of San Gabriel Unitarian Universalist Church, Joseph Burke of the Georgetown Project and Lalena Parkhurst, who started PFLAG Austin’s Deidre Furr Essay Contest.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to note that mayoral candidate Sherwin Kahn said he is self-funding his campaign.
