Who has the money? County exec candidates report

Editors Note: The article was written by Street Car Suburb, a publication that covers North County in Prince George’s County. You can read this article at their website here.

photos by Josh Appel found on www.Unsplash.com

Candidates for Prince George’s County Executive have filed their first campaign finance reports for the March 4 primary election race.  Below, candidates are listed from the highest campaign account balance to the lowest. This snapshot is based on campaign finance reports filed by the Feb. 4 deadline and a review of contributions in December and January.  

You can take a more detailed look at contributions to candidates by searching on the state campaign finance website, here.  

Jolene Ivey

At-large County Councilmember and Chair Jolene Ivey had about $467,000 in her campaign account on Jan. 28 and had raised about $190,000 from 310 contributors since Dec. 1. 

Those contributors included at least 22 donors in the real estate and construction industries, each of whom had given over $1,000, totalling over $40,000, combined.

Ivey received $2,000 from the director of a nonprofit that promotes careers in public safety for Prince George’s County Public Schools graduates and $2,000 from an employee of the data center company Iron Bow Technologies. 

From Jan. 9 to Jan. 28, Ivey spent about $9,000 on office rental and another $1,300 on printing. 

She made a $250,000 loan to her campaign on Jan. 6.

Aisha Braveboy

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy had about $379,000 in her campaign account on Jan. 28 and had raised about $325,000 from 375 donors since Dec. 1. Braveboy spent far more than any other candidate from Jan. 9 through Jan. 28 — $200,000, including $25,000 on phone banking, over $100,000 on television ads and $6,000 on robocalls.

Braveboy’s campaign received $6,000 from Corridor Wine in Laurel and at least $42,000 from members of the family of David Trone, the liquor magnate who lost to Angela Alsobrooks in the primary for the U.S. Senate seat this spring. 

Braveboy also received at least $30,000 from donors in the health care industry, particularly home health care services, since Dec. 1.

Northeast Maglev, which has been seeking approval for a high speed train line through Prince George’s County, contributed $5,000 to her campaign. 

A political action committee called the We Are Labor 2 PAC contributed just over  $79,000 to Braveboy’s campaign on Jan 31, past the timeframe for reporting.

Calvin Hawkins

At-large County Councilmember Calvin Hawkins had about $192,000 in his campaign account on Jan. 28. He had raised the most money from the largest number of donors since Dec. 1, about $337,000 from nearly 600 donors. Over $50,000 came from 11 donors in the construction and real estate industries. 

Hawkins spent a total of $116,000 from Jan. 9 to Jan. 28, including $26,000 on printing, $25,000 on campaign staff and consultants, $23,000 on phone banking and $12,000 for office rental. 

Rushern Baker

Former County Executive Rushern Baker had just under $97,000 in his campaign bank account on Jan. 28 and had raised about $146,000 from about 260 donors since Dec. 1. Three donors in security services gave a total of $12,000 to his campaign, and four donors in the real estate and construction industries gave a total of $13,500. Baker received an additional $6,000 from the campaign funds of County Councilmember Sidney Harrison (District 9) and also received donations of services for campaign texting and for video. Baker spent almost $44,000 on media and over $3,000 on compensation for campaign workers from Jan. 9 to Jan. 28. 

Alonzo T. Washington 

State Senator Alonzo T. Washington (District 22) had $81,000 in his campaign bank account on Jan. 28. Since Dec. 1, he had raised about $37,000 from about 160 donors, mostly small donations from addresses in his district. The largest donation he received was $2,500 from the campaign of Bill Ferguson, a state legislator from Baltimore. Washington spent about $2,000 from Jan. 9 to Jan. 28 on compensation for campaign workers. 

Tonya Sweat

Moisette Tonya Sweat had about $11,000 in her campaign account on Jan. 28. She had raised about $13,000 since Dec. 1 from nearly 50 donors. She spent $1,600 between Jan. 9 and Jan. 28 on media, printing and campaign materials. Her largest donations were $6,000 from Peter Oliver Kreuger, a consultant from Silver Spring, and $2,000 from Joann McDonald, a Bowie resident and retired bookkeeper for Prince George’s County Public Schools. 

Ron Hunt

Ron Hunt had over $3,000 in his bank account on Jan. 28 and had spent over $6,000 on direct mail since Jan. 9. He made a loan of $9,500 to his campaign on Jan. 13. 

Marcellus Crews and Albert Slocum did not file the reports by the Feb. 4 deadline, and their most recent campaign finance reports show minimal balances. 

Republican candidates

In heavily Democratic Prince George’s County, Republican candidates are not raising much money. Jonathan White and George McDermott filed statements showing that contributions and expenditures for each of their campaigns were less than $1,000. Jesse Peed failed to file the report by the Feb. 4 deadline, but an annual statement he filed Jan. 15 shows a bank account balance under $1,000.

Read More Of Our Coverage