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Two Republicans in heated San Diego City Council races against Democrats are the leading fundraisers among 28 total candidates battling for five open council seats.

Noli Zosa, who is seeking to keep the District 7 seat in Republican hands, and Joe Leventhal, who is trying to succeed Republican-turned-independent Mark Kersey in District 5, have each collected more than $200,000 in campaign contributions.

Only three other council candidates have raised more than $100,000, according to campaign contribution disclosures submitted in recent days.

Democrat Sam Nejabat has raised $161,000 in the District 1 race, Democrat Marni von Wilpert has raised $127,000 in her District 5 battle against Leventhal, and Raul Campillo has raised $125,000 in his race against Zosa in District 7.

Meanwhile, in the race for City Attorney, incumbent Mara Elliott has a commanding lead in donations with more than $300,000. Challenger Cory Briggs has raised $27,000, while challenger Pete Mesich has raised less than $2,000.

With four weeks left until the March 3 primary, Elliott has $169,000 available to spend on her campaign, while Briggs has just over $20,000.

In each city race, the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary will advance to November runoffs.

While raising money is no guarantee of success, candidates with more money can send mailers, buy ads, conduct phone banks, post campaign signs throughout their district and do other things to promote their candidacies.

In the council race for north coastal District 1, business owner Nejabat has raised significantly more than three other Democrats who have split up most of the major endorsements.

Attorney Will Moore has raised $96,000, business owner Joe LaCava has collected $94,000 and firefighter Aaron Brennan has received $65,000.

Each of the four candidates has also loaned his campaign money: Nejabat $100,000, Moore $47,000, Brennan $10,000 and LaCava $4,000.

Nejabat has $165,000 available before the primary, while Moore has $62,000, Brennan has $36,000 and LaCava has $19,000. But independent committees have been established to boost the campaigns of Brennan and LaCava.

Separate committees created by the citys firefighters and police officers labor unions have contributed $8,500 total to Brennan. A committee supporting LaCava has raised $70,000, including $10,000 from the Teamsters union and $35,000 from a nonprofit focused on energy and water issues.

The other four candidates in the District 1 race have raised significantly less money. Technology worker Harid Puentes has raised $31,000, real estate broker Lily Zhou has raised $3,700 and attorney James Rudolph has raised $2,125. Environmental writer Louis Rodolico hasnt reported raising any money.

Every candidate in the District 1 race is a Democrat except Zhou, who is an independent.

In the race for central urban District 3, nonprofit manager Stephen Whitburn leads the pack with $95,000.

He is followed by fellow Democrats city financial analyst Chris Olsen with $58,000, nonprofit manager Adrian Kwiatkowski with $57,000 and political staffer Toni Duran with $53,000.

A fifth candidate, Michelle Nguyen, has raised just over $4,000.

Whitburn has $49,000 in available cash, followed by Duran with $26,000, Kwiatkowski with $22,000, Olson with $18,000 and Nguyen with just under $4,000.

In the race for north inland District 5, Leventhal and von Wilpert, who are both attorneys, lead two other candidates by wide margins. Leventhal leads all council candidates citywide with $216,000.

Technology worker Isaac Wang has raised $15,000 and loaned himself an additional $10,000. Business owner Simon Moghadam has not reported raising any money.

The independent committee established by the firefighters labor union has given $1,050 to von Wilpert.

Leventhal and Moghadam are Republicans. Von Wilpert and Wang are Democrats.

In central eastern District 7, Zosa at $202,000 and Campillo at $125,000 are followed in fundraising by attorney Monty McIntyre with $74,000 and teacher Wendy Wheatcroft with $58,000.

Zosa, a small business owner, leads in cash available to spend with $127,000. Campillo, a deputy city attorney, has $79,000, while Wheatcroft has $17,000 and McIntyre has $13,000.

Zosa is a Republican, while the other three candidates are Democrats.

In central southeastern District 9, political staffer Kelvin Barrios leads in fundraising by a wide margin with $42,000.

He is followed by community college trustee Sean Elo with $14,000, scientist Johnny Lee Dang with $11,000 and nonprofit manager Ross Naismith with $2,000.

Two other candidates in the race -- maritime systems manager Alex Soto and business owner Andrew Gade -- havent reported raising any money. A seventh candidate, business owner Sam Bedwell, hasnt submitted required disclosures.

An independent committee has also been established to support Barrios by Local 89 of the Laborers International Union of North America. The committee has raised $16,000 for him so far.

All of the candidates in the District 9 race are Democrats except Gade, who is an independent.

A new wave of fundraising disclosures is due Feb. 20 in all city of San Diego races.

Link:
Two Republicans in key San Diego council races setting the pace in fundraising - The San Diego Union-Tribune