Sen. Anthony Williams Leading The Pack In Phila. Mayor's Race Fundraising Totals
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The 2015 Philadelphia mayor's race is now officially a horse race as the campaigns released their fundraising totals for last year, with bragging rights going to the campaign of state senator Anthony Williams.
Senator Anthony Williams had $426,000 still on hand at the end of 2014, the largest cash-on-hand total of all the announced and presumptive candidates. His campaign said Williams in fact raised nearly half of that amount -- $208,000 – in the last five weeks of the year.
Some other totals:
- Former District attorney Lynne Abraham raised $265,000 in 2014, and had $195,000 still on hand at the close of the year, according to her Finance Director Stacy Forchetti.
- Former City Solicitor Nelson Diaz raised $87,000 and has about $79,000 still on hand. His spokesman said the pace of Diaz's fund-raising has picked up in January since he announced for mayor.
- Impressive fund-raising was reported by former solicitor, and now former candidate Ken Trujillo. He raised $368,000 in 2014, and closed the year with nearly $200,000 on hand. Now that Trujillo has withdrawn, his political action committee is entitled to donate to other candidates, though under the strict limits of the city campaign finance law.
- Former city councilman Jim Kenney, who is formally announcing for mayor later this week, raised $236,000 in 2014, even as donors were uncertain whether he'd run for mayor or stay on council. He has about $76,000 of that on hand.
- Former mayoral spokesman Doug Oliver, who is to announce for mayor this coming Saturday, raised about $1,500 at the tail end of 2014.
--Soon-to-announce candidate Milton Street did not raise any money in 2014, and so did not file a finance report, according to his son, Milton Street Jr. soc
