New campaign donation disclosures show challenger Kate Callen surging in San Diego City Council District 3, Henry Foster III widening his fundraising lead in District 4 and Heather Ferbert gaining momentum in the race for city attorney.
Mayor Todd Gloria continued to spend far more than four candidates challenging his re-election, but Geneviéve Jones-Wright raised nearly three times what Gloria did in direct donations during the one-month period the disclosures cover.
Callen raised $2,440 between Jan. 21 and Feb. 17, roughly triple the $885 raised by challenger Coleen Cusack and the $725 raised by incumbent Stephen Whitburn.
But Whitburn, using money raised during previous donation periods, sharply outspent his opponents. He spent $18,100, which included a campaign mailer, while Callen spent $3,800 and Cusack spent $340.
Whitburn also has $83,000 left to spend through the March 5 primary and on the way to a possible November runoff. Callen has $6,800, and Cusack has $3,000.
A fourth candidate in the District 3 race, Ellis California Jones, has raised and spent minimal amounts.
In the special election for District 4, Foster raised more than twice as much as Chida Warren-Darby between Jan. 21 and Feb. 17 — $7,200 versus $3,260.
Both candidates spent about $7,000 during the period, primarily on campaign consultants, mail pieces and digital ads. Foster has more than $12,000 to spend going forward, while Warren-Darby has $3,500.
The District 4 seat opened up when Monica Montgomery Steppe was elected to the county Board of Supervisors. A third candidate, Tylisa Suseberry, hasn’t raised any money.
In the city attorney race, Ferbert raised nearly 10 times during the period as much as her lone opponent, Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, $16,329 versus $1,650. She also spent $5,390 during the period, compared to $342 for Maienschein.
The relatively low spending for a citywide race might be because Ferbert, a chief deputy city attorney, and Maienschein are both guaranteed to move on to a November runoff no matter who gets more votes March 5.
Maienschein has more money socked away for the runoff — $129,000 versus $39,000 for Ferbert. The winner will replace Mara Elliott, who is termed out after eight years.
In the mayoral race, Jones-Wright raised $23,165 between Jan. 21 and Feb. 17, while Gloria raised $9,684 and Larry Turner raised $3,130.
Two other candidates, Jane Glasson and Daniel Smiechowski, didn’t raise significant amounts. But an independent committee supporting Gloria spent $144,000 promoting Glasson’s candidacy.
Jones-Wright spent just over $9,000 during the period, including some money on fliers. But Gloria spent twice that, spending almost $19,000 on text ads and other expenses.
In addition, a second independent committee supporting Gloria — Big City San Diego — spent $10,000 on digital ads supporting the mayor’s re-election.
Turner spent just $1,700 during the period. Going forward, Turner has $22,752 in his war chest, Jones-Wright has $33,101 and Gloria has $348,427.
In the District 9 council race, incumbent Sean Elo-Rivera narrowly led fundraising with $903, compared to $810 for Terry Hoskins and $475 for Fernando Garcia. Moving forward, Elo-Rivera has nearly $40,000, while Hoskins has just under $8,000 and Garcia has $625.
Candidates in city races won’t be required to summarize their donations and spending again until after the primary on July 31.
