Lam Outstrips Peers in Campaign Funding
Incumbent City Councilman Tony Lam raised more than $61,000 in campaign funds this year, not only tripling the amount of the nearest candidate but topping the total of all 12 other council and mayoral candidates combined.
“It showed that the people support me,” Lam said. “It’s not from my pocket money. It’s from the people who believe in my kind of leadership, in my kind of being their representative.
“I definitely don’t have any contributions from any interest groups,” he added. “I don’t have any hidden agenda, because that’s the way I do things.”
Included in Lam’s total was one nonmonetary item--free office space worth $3,600, provided by Little Saigon developer Frank Jao of Bridgecreek Development.
Eight people, including two incumbents, are running for two City Council seats, and five are running for mayor, including incumbent Frank Fry Jr.
The next-highest local fund-raiser for Tuesday’s election is mayoral candidate Chuyen Nguyen, with more than $20,000, primarily from the Vietnamese American community. Of the 39 contributors he listed as giving more than $100, 26 lived outside Westminster, although he said some of them had businesses here.
No other council or mayoral candidate raised more than $10,000 this year.
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