$100,000 in Contributions Fuels 6th District Race

More than $100,000 in contributions poured into the San Diego City Council 6th District race during the past seven weeks, with Councilman Bruce Henderson out-raising challenger Valerie Stallings by nearly 2 to 1, campaign finance reports showed Thursday.

Showing that activists on both sides recognize the Nov. 5 runoff election’s potential for tipping the council’s balance of power, the reports reveal that both candidates’ contributions are rolling in more rapidly than earlier in the campaign.

From Sept. 1 through Oct. 19, Henderson received contributions totaling $66,076, while Stallings received $36,577, according to campaign reports filed with the city clerk’s office.

Though both candidates received some of that money before the Sept. 17 primary in which Stallings fell narrowly short of the majority vote needed for outright election, the bulk of the contributions listed on Thursday’s reports came after the primary.

Henderson’s overall financial advantage over Stallings is even wider than the edge reflected in the most recent reporting period. Including funds spent in the primary, Henderson has received $197,343 in contributions, 3 1/2 times more than Stallings’ $56,814 total.

A majority of Henderson’s contributions during the Sept. 1-Oct. 19 period came from development-related interests such as builders, realtors, architects and land-use lawyers. Although professions are not identified for all contributors, at least $36,000 of the $66,076 that Henderson received during that time appears to have come from development interests.

Stallings’ contributions, meanwhile, were drawn from a wide range of professions, none of which represented the kind of financial cornerstone for her campaign that the building industry provided for Henderson.

One unusual note about Stallings’ contributors’ list, however, is that it includes two council members who each donated $250 to her campaign: Abbe Wolfsheimer and John Hartley.