How will the Annapolis elections turn out? Follow the money.
Before campaign finance reports for the Annapolis fall elections came out Friday, two candidates in a five-way City Council race wanted me to know.
“93% of funds are from Maryland and 0% are from Florida,” Alderman Harry Huntley texted. “We had a total of 213 donations.”
What’s that about Florida?
“I think Ron is going to have a significant portion of his funds from Florida Republicans because that’s where he’s spent most of his political career.”
Ron Gunzburger, one of the Democrats hoping to take Huntley’s Ward 1 seat in the Sept. 16 primary, does indeed have lots of money from the Sunshine State. And Republicans are well represented, including a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.
[…] “Notable donors include Friends of Sarah Elfreth, Friends of Steuart Pittman, former Senator John Astle, Cindy Busch, famed sailor Gary Jobson, longtime local businessman Carroll Hynson, and GermantownHomewood Community Association President Erin McCopp,” Huntley said.
[…]
If dollars and cents are a measure of support, Jared Littmann, the former alderman running for mayor, is on the way to winning.
His $205,000 in donations, including more than $191,000 in cash, dramatically overshadows the more than $33,000 raised by his primary opponent, Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell Charles.
[…]
Littmann, a hardware store owner, has spent months laying out where he’ll lead the city, sometimes following Mayor Gavin Buckley and sometimes going his own way.
[…]
Huntley raised $31,000 to Gunzburger’s $26,000.
[…]
Huntley, an agriculture policy expert, and Gunzburger, a former senior advisor to Gov. Larry Hogan, face Ben Bramsen, a private tutoring company executive, attorney Katie McDermott, and Genevieve Torri, who led Buckley’s 2021 campaign.
[…]
Gunzburger’s include Hogan, his wife, Yumi, and his real estate company. They include the lawyer suing the city over conditions at the Annapolis Housing Authority. Contributors from Annapolis — or even close by — are far outnumbered by out-of-state friends.
