Campaign finance reports put Pantelides, Astle on top

When it comes to raising money, it's good to be an active politician.

The two men with the most political experience have raised the most money in the Annapolis mayoral race. Mayor Mike Pantelides raised the most at $141,697.32. Democratic candidate and state Sen. John Astle raised $119,209.09.

In third place was Democratic candidate Gavin Buckley with $72,736.54. Republican candidate Nevin Young was in a distant last place with $2,692.17.

But digging into the financial data shows that the support these men are receiving is widely different. And the money raised this year far outpaces the August reports of the 2013 election.

Pantelides raised the most with $36,555 in his first campaign finance report in 2013. About $6,000 of that was his own money. His Republican opponent back then, Robert O'Shea, raised $14,990.31, but he also put in $11,975.31 of his own money into the campaign.

Democrat Bevin Ann Buchheister challenged incumbent Mayor Josh Cohen and raised $20,985.

Cohen raised $35,337.54, but he also had a cash balance on hand of $32,090.19. This gave him an advantage in total money.

Pantelides and Buckley have received most of their support from businesses and residents. Buckley's report in particular shows a strong grass-roots push with a plethora of small-time donations. His average donations were much lower than those of the mayor and Astle.

Buckley did receive $2,500 from Gormley, Jarashow, Bowman LLC, a law office in Annapolis. Joseph Gormley represented Buckley in the court case involving the Tsunami restaurant mural on West Street. Buckley lost that case and the mural will have a retroactive hearing in front of the Historic Preservation Commission.

Buckley announced his campaign in January, but his fundraising efforts date back to Sept. 29.

"I haven't done the traditional thing where you get on the phone and call and ask for money - OK, I've done it a little bit, but mainly (the donations are) people that came to us," Buckley said. "I'm definitely campaigning as a change candidate in a town where most people run from that word."

Pantelides' support was the strongest in terms of total value. He also spent the most money of the three other mayoral candidates at $113,265.68. He also had the most cash balance on hand to start the election with $94,316 in the bank before June 27. The city election fundraising is tracked from June 27 to Aug. 20. Reports were due on Aug. 22.

The mayor's finances are a mix of donations from residents and businesses. Some of those businesses include local architecture company Hammond Wilson, which is often embroiled in projects within the city. Hammond Wilson donated $2,000 to the mayor's campaign.

Annapolis native Travis Pastrana also donated $1,500 to the mayor's campaign in March. Pantelides was a player in working with the community to allow for Pastrana's Nitro Circus event at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Pantelides said his family has known the Pastranas for a long time and the donation wasn't related to the Nitro Circus event.

The mayor had several large donors to his campaign, topping out at $2,500. One such donor was Adams Chrylser Dodge Jeep Ram on West Street. The D'Camera Group LLC, a business insurance company, also donated $2,500. Dean D'Camera, who ran for County Council District 6, has been an ardent supporter for the mayor.

"I'm obviously humbled I have such a broad base of support," Pantelides said. "I'm very thankful to have individual people's support."

Astle's contributions were buoyed greatly by his support from elected officials. The state senator received multiple $2,500 donations and other transfers from political committees from Democrats in the House of Delegates and the Senate. Those donations include Friends of Mike Busch, Friends of James "Ed" DeGrange Sr. and Citizens for Douglas J.J. Peters. All these groups transferred $2,500 to Astle's campaign.

These transfers amounted to about a third of Astle's fundraising.

Locally Astle received support from some high-profile Annapolitans, including Alan Hyatt, who donated $500 under his name. His company, Hyatt & Weber P.A., donated another $1,000. Hyatt has donated to Pantelides' campaign before.

"We are honored by the wide depth of support we are getting from all over our city and by people who know how committed John is to making city government accountable again," said Lachlan McIntosh, Astle's spokesman.

Young's campaign was boosted by a $1,000 donation from Glen Hollow Apartments LLC on King George Street. Young also transferred $750 of his own money into his campaign.

The remaining donations were mostly smaller contributions from Annapolitans and other Marylanders.

Young didn't return a call for comment.

The Annapolis primary election will be Sept. 19, and the general election will held Nov. 7.

Credit: By Chase Cook - [email protected]