Semiannual Campaign Finance Reports

In Texas, officeholders and candidates for local offices must file semiannual reports. In addition, candidates who have an opponent must file two pre-election reports, one 30 days before the election and one 8 days before. Political action committees have these same deadlines to file.

The Wheel has previously looked at the 30-Day reports (twice: here and here) and the 8-Day reports here. Today we look at the July 15 semiannual reports.

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Let's start first with the political action committees, then get into the candidates' reports.

Richardson Coalition

The "Richardson Coalition" PAC filed 30-Day, 8-Day, and semiannual reports. In the semiannual report, they list seven of the eight candidates they supported. Sticklers for detail, they even included both candidates for mayor, where the RC PAC was unable to pick between them. They omitted mentioning their support for Curtis Dorian. Simple oversight is the likeliest explanation.

Richardson Area Democrats

The "Richardson Area Democrats" PAC filed a semiannual report, but neglected to file 30-Day and 8-Day reports. Missing those earlier reports appears to be a violation of Texas election regulations.

In the semiannual report, the RAD PAC reports spending a total of $6,022.15, including $1,600 for "postcard mailers," $1,450 for "postcard postage," and $610 for "texting campaign." If the mailing is the one reported here (""Correction: Party Politics in Richardson"), then it was an in-kind contribution to Curtis Dorian, Dan Barrios, and Ken Hutchenrider.

None of the candidates supported in the RAD PAC's mailer reported receiving written notice of the in-kind contribution. I assume this means the RAD PAC failed to provide the candidates with such written notice, which is another violation of Texas election regulations.

One individual donation jumped out, a $100 contribution that the RAD PAC made to Dan Barrios on March 31, 2023. That hadn't been seen before in any of the campaign finance reports filed before the election. Given my dislike of political parties getting directly involved in non-partisan local elections, this was disheartening to see.

In "Committee Activity", the RAD PAC correctly names Barrios as a candidate supported by the PAC (for the $100 contribution), but neglects to name any others (for the in-kind contribution of a mailer). That omission to report the candidates supported with an in-kind contribution appears to be yet another violation of Texas election regulations.

Mayor Bob Dubey

Mayor Bob Dubey's semiannual report contains three contributions that were received *after* the election. Manassah Durkin, an active commercial real estate developer in Richardson, donated $465.20. Frank and Gerry Leftwich, members of the Richardson Coalition PAC, donated $300. In-kind contributions for "text advertising" were received on April 28 (i.e., before the election) from former Councilmember Scott Dunn ($477.13), Lisa Dunn ($477.13), and the mayor's brother Arthur Dubey ($477.14). These in-kind contributions coincidentally were made late enough in the campaign that the donations didn't have to appear on any campaign finance report filed *before* the election. They first show up on the semiannual report well *after* the election.

The numbers in Dubey's 30-Day report and in the correction to that report (see the last paragraph of "8-Day Campaign Finance Reports for City Council") didn't add up. Dubey really ought to file (yet another) correction to that report. Now, three months later, his semiannual report also doesn't add up. He shows a total of $1,458.00 in contributions, but the itemized list adds up to $1,488.00, or $30 more than the total reported. And he lists three in-kind contributions (see the Dunns and Arthur Dubey above) that aren't included in the totals. About the audit of the City's Annual Comprehensive Report, Dubey said, "all of the numbers add up, which is the critical piece." His own "numbers don't add up." He is repeatedly guilty of a "critical" failure in his own campaign finance reports.

Dan Barrios

Dan Barrios's semiannual report shines a light into how a successful political campaign is run. In expenditures, he shows $5,238 paid for "Campaign consulting" to "Beyond the Slogan." He also shows three expenditures to three different parties for "Campaign door-knocking labor." The expenditures were for $1,010, $2,131, and $420.

Looking back on Dan Barrios's 8-Day and 30-Day reports, what's curious is that he doesn't report a $100 contribution from the RAD PAC on March 31, 2023. The RAD PAC's own semiannual report lists it. In his 8-Day report, Barrios does show a $100 contribution from Wendy Banul on that same day. Wendy Banul is the Treasurer of the RAD PAC. It looks like Barrios might be mischaracterizing a RAD PAC contribution as a personal contribution. There are two explanations I can think of (and maybe more I can't). This could be a careless mistake on either the donor's or receiver's end (which would be no big deal, if corrected) or it could be a deliberate act to avoid listing a a partisan political organization as the source of a contribution in a non-partisan race (which would be unfortunate...and stupid). The Barrios campaign was professionally-managed. Does that make a nefarious explanation more likely or less? Dunno. A simple correction would resolve this question.

Curtis Dorian

Curtis Dorian's semiannual report shows a contribution of $1,000 from Manasseh Durkin, an active commercial real estate developer in Richardson. It also shows three expenditures for "Door hangers delivery," for $650, $100, and $200. Like Dan Barrios, Dorian won. A paid door-knocking effort appears to be a winning expenditure.

Arefin Shamsul

The semiannual report for Arefin Shamsul shows how to take no chances in an election in which you have no opposition. It shows a $2,000 expense for "Advertising" paid to "Beyond the Slogan", the same consulting firm Barrios employed.

Joe Corcoran

On April 6, 2023, Joe Corcoran filed a 30-Day report, even though he was unopposed and wasn't required to. As of July 21, he did not file a semiannual report that is required of all candidates and was due July 17. That is a violation of Texas election regulations.

Ken Hutchenrider

Ken Hutchenrider's semiannual report, covering 4/28/2023 - 07/15/2023, showed no contributions nor expenditures. In a wholly subjective opinion, The Wheel awards Ken Hutchenrider the "Clean Report" medal for having the cleanest campaign finance reports of all candidates who filed three reports this election cycle. Congrats.

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"Numbers on the page,
Clashing like disjointed hearts,
Doubt stains their intent."
—h/t ChatGPT