Candidates file campaign finance reports 30 days before elections. For the City of Richardson, there are only two contested races: the Mayor's race (Dubey vs Omar vs North) and Place 6 (Arefin vs Kupfer). Five incumbents have drawn no challengers. What will it take to get more Richardson citizens to run for political office? Good question, but not one we'll get into today. Today, it's all about the money. We also won't get into the question of just how close money and candidates can get before the Code of Ethics gets invoked. Apparently, a lot closer than you'd think.
Mayoral Candidates
Bob Dubey
Bob Dubey's Campaign Finance Report says his total contributions were $36,503.26, but if you add up the individual contributions, the total is $37,553.26. Just like in 2023, Dubey's arithmetic doesn't add up. It's kind of remarkable that someone who sets a budget of millions of dollars for the City can't get his own personal campaign finance report to add up...repeatedly.
One thing Dubey is getting better at is fundraising. At this point in 2023, he had raised $21,697.55, a lot but only about half of what he's raised so far this cycle. An incumbency effect? And he's good at raising money from outside the City of Richardson. Good at it, but whether it's good for Richardson is another matter. 43% of his identified donors don't live in Richardson. 63% of the total money raised comes from donors who don't live in Richardson. Dubey's biggest single contribution is for $8,000 and comes from Felix Y Chen, who lives in Dallas. Johnny Lee, who lives in Dallas, gave $2,500 (in two transactions). He's one of the leaders of the Dallas Chinese Community Center (DCCC), located in Richardson's Chinatown. William Tsao, from Dallas, also a leader of DCCC, gave $1,000. There are over two dozen donations from people with Asian-sounding surnames, not that there's anything wrong with that. Dubey lists a donation from former Mayor Gary Slagel. Maybe it's worth noting that Slagel was appointed by the City Council as Richardson's representative on DART's Board of Directors. In my opinion, it looks bad for an elected official to take money from people they appoint to government boards.
If you look back at Dubey's December, 2024, Semi-Annual Campaign Finance Report, you'll see he received $9,345.60 in campaign contributions last year. Add that to this year's haul and Dubey's total of $46,898.86 is far and away the biggest war chest in this year's election. Expect to see plenty of social media ads on your screens and mailers in your mail box.
If you look back even farther, at Dubey's July, 2023, Semi-Annual Campaign Finance Report, filed just after the May 6, 2023, election (i.e., too late to be included in the pre-election campaign finance reports) that year, you'll notice the name of Manasseh Durkin, who contributed $456.20 to Dubey on May 9, 2023. He happens to be the largest landowner in downtown Richardson, including the properties on which that superblock is going to be built for those apartments that Dubey voted to approve and even give away City land for (McKinney Street). The sequence of events is: Dubey elected Mayor; Durkin makes campaign contribution to the new Mayor; new Mayor votes to approve apartment building in downtown Richardson. I'm not suggesting a quid pro quo here. I'm suggesting that perhaps Richardson's Code of Ethics, which states its "overriding interest being that such officers of the city shall at all times strive to avoid even the appearance of impropriety," maybe should say something about the appearance of impropriety when mayors don't recuse themselves from voting on zoning applications by their own campaign donors.
On the expenses side of the ledger, Dubey's biggest expense has been $18,310,98 for "mailings/postage". He also spent $5,994.24 on "Printing, Signs, Shirts, etc)".
Amir Omar
Amir Omar's Campaign Finance Report shows a much smaller fundraising haul. It shows only $8,715 in contributions. Omar says he is running a "grassroots" campaign and is "restricting donations to Richardson residents, business owners or those who work in Richardson only." He has 69 donors, each and every one of them with a Richardson address. His biggest donations are six individuals who each gave $500. He also loaned his campaign $10,000 of his own money. Omar lists a donation from former Mayor Paul Voelker.
On the expense side, Omar's biggest expense has been for "Signs" (two payments of $4,350 and $1,773.56). He spent $2,917.34 on "Kickoff catering."
Alan C. North
Alan C. North's Campaign Finance Report might be the shortest of all. He shows no contributions.
On the expenses side, he spent $5,377.86, mostly for "campaign strategy & marketing," "website design" and "website maintenance," "office rent," "voter management software," and "food and beverage expense" for a "meeting with constituents."
Place 6 Candidates
Arefin Shamsul
Arefin Shamsul's Campaign Finance Report shows contributions of $22,585.00 from 38 donors, the biggest being $3,500.00 from Richardson Firefighters Association and $3,000 from Richardson Fraternal Order of Police.
On the expenses side, he has spent $7,632.29, including $2,524.28 on "yard signs" and $770.09 on "Large signs." He spent $1,500.00 at Jasmine Cafe for "Campaign kick-off." He also spent $670.00 with "Beyond the Slogan," an election campaign consulting firm, for "Advertising/exp."
Lisa Marie Kupfer
Lisa Marie Kupfer's Campaign Finance Report shows contributions of $1,275.00, with her largest contribution being $400 (in two separate donations of $200) coming from Martin Garvie in Richardson. She also received $200 from another Richardson resident, and $200 from Johnny Lee of Dallas, who gave $500 to Arefin. (Correction: an earlier version of this post didn't identify Garvie's contributions.)
Do the math. The veteran incumbent Arefin has outraised the first-time-candidate Kupfer by 18-to-1. Her $1,275 won't go very far at all in an at-large election in Richardson. That's a reason, an important reason, why I support Richardson adopting single-member districts. As I said in my recent editorial, "Single-member districts also reduce the barriers to entry. The cost to run a winning campaign in a district of 20,000 residents is much less than the cost to mount a citywide campaign in a city of 120,000, something every single councilmember is forced to do today. The winning candidates in single-member districts will have a closer relationship to the residents of their district." I didn't know Lisa Marie Kupfer was going to run when I wrote that, but she is the embodiment of the kind of candidate I had in mind when I wrote it.
On the expenses side, Kupfer spent $1,001.00, including $683.06 for "Yard signs."
"Budget? Trust me, folks.
Campaign math? That’s optional.
Close enough is fine."
—h/t ChatGPT
5 comments:
Hi Mark, I do appreciate your coverage but feel that you ever so slightly misrepresented my campaign contributions - which is a bit impressive given that it's a rather short list! :-) While I did receive a $200 donation from Johnny Lee, I have received $200 donations from Martin Garvie (twice, so $400 within the reporting period), and $200 from Neil Orleans. Both Mr. Garvie and Mr. Orleans are Richardson residents and were among the earliest donors to my campaign. I do understand the broader point that you are trying to make within your post, but feel that you weren't entirely accurate in your representation of my campaign donations in an effort to make that point.
One thing I’ve learned about politics: political consultants are a dime a dozen. It’s a lucrative industry built on hype, promising the moon, delivering little, and preying on candidates’ egos with flattery and bogus “you’re in the lead” polls. I saw it firsthand helping on a congressional campaign a few years ago. The waste was staggering. Consultants cashed in while voters (and candidates) got nothing. I’m running a different kind of campaign: cost-effective, focused, and direct. I’m taking my message straight to voters for a fraction of the cost.
Lisa Marie Kupfer, thanks for the correction. I have updated the post. Also, some of the links to the Campaign Finance Reports were wrong. They, too, have been corrected.
Alan North, thanks for the feedback on your experience with political consultants.
Thank you Mark - I appreciate the update!
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