Mayoral Candidates Raise More Than $900,000

Fund-raising in the four-way San Diego mayoral primary race passed the $900,000 mark as the major candidates brought in large sums of money from donors or contributed heavily to their own campaigns in anticipation of the June 2 election, according to documents filed Thursday.

An independent expenditure was reported for the first time in the bitterly contested race when the Golden Eagle Club of San Diego County, a Republican group, filed documents showing it had spent $6,500 on a “media buy” to “oppose Peter Navarro for mayor of San Diego.” No details were available Thursday on what the expenditure entailed.

The race to succeed retiring San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor includes four major candidates: financier Tom Carter, County Supervisor Susan Golding, managed-growth advocate Peter Navarro, and San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts. Also on the ballot are minor candidates Loch David Crane and Bill Thomas.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the citywide primary June 2, the top two vote-getters will face each other in a Nov. 3 runoff.

Golding continues to lead all candidates in contributions, amassing a total of more than $308,000 since beginning her fund-raising last year. She took in more than $103,000 in cash and non-monetary contributions during the two-month period from March 18 to May 16 covered by the reports filed Thursday with the San Diego city clerk’s office.

Navarro brought his total contributions to just over $240,000 by collecting $30,398 and loaning his campaign $98,500 during the two-month period. Navarro has now contributed $137,800 to his effort to win the city’s top post.

Roberts’ fund-raising now totals more than $234,000, after a reporting period in which he raised more than $134,000, virtually all of it from outside donors.

Carter raised his total fund-raising to nearly $134,000 by taking in more than $32,975 in contributions and $22,500 in loans. Slightly more than half of Carter’s total campaign funds have come from loans, including $52,500 from himself.

Thomas’ total fund-raising reached $7,010, all but $10 of which is his own money. Crane filed no financial statement.