Hyde’s latest campaign finance report shows him with more than three times as much money as Brody, who has the second-highest total

Jen Ahearn-Koch and Patrick Gannon right behind those two in terms of total contributions through Feb. 24

Martin Hyde. Image from his campaign website

As early voting began this week for two at-large seats on the Sarasota City Commission, the latest financial reports the eight candidates have filed show businessman Martin Hyde with $56,134.74 — well outpacing the other seven people in the race.

The election will be on March 14. The schedule calls for a runoff on May 9.

Hyde brought in $955 in cash and checks during the latest reporting period — Feb. 11 to Feb. 24 — while he loaned another $5,206.92 to his campaign, according to records maintained by the Office of the City Auditor and Clerk.

Altogether, Hyde reported having spent $50,531.22 through Feb. 24.

He owns the information technology and services firm Gulf Business Systems in Sarasota.

Attorney and former state prosecutor Hagen Brody had raised $16,830 as of Feb. 24. Altogether, he has paid $10,437.05 in expenses, his report shows.

Jen Ahearn-Koch. Image from her campaign website

Jen Ahearn-Koch, who has her own marketing and consulting firm — JAK Consults — had a total of $16,591 through Feb. 24, records show. She had spent $10,335.59, her filing notes, with $2,125.59 paid out during the latest reporting period.

A Tahiti Park resident Ahearn-Koch spent six years on the city’s Planning Board.

Planning Board member Patrick Gannon, who is president of the Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association, had raised $15,860 and spent $11,222.76 as of Feb. 24, his report says.

Incumbent Commissioner Susan Chapman, an attorney, reported a total of $14,953 in contributions and $5,523.89 in expenditures through the latest period. She brought in $5,832 from Feb. 11 to Feb. 24, her filing shows — all of it in cash or checks from 40 individuals.

Hagen Brody. Image from his campaign website

The other three candidates reported the following totals for their campaigns as of Feb. 24:

  • Fredd “Glossie” Atkins — $1,995.21 in contributions and $1,452.09 in expenditures. Atkins is a former city commissioner and a past mayor who lives on 35th Street in Sarasota.
  • Mikael Sandstrom — $275 in contributions and $193.79 in expenditures. A native of Halmstad, Sweden, Sandstrom moved with his family to Sarasota in 1986, his campaign website says. His parents established Olivia Boutique on St. Armands Circle, the website adds.
  • Matt Sperling — no contributions and no expenses. He lives on Sixth Street in Sarasota, in Gillespie Park.
Commissioner Susan Chapman. File photo

During the 2013 campaign for the two at-large seats, Chapman brought in a total of $28,650, while the other winner — Commissioner Suzanne Atwell — raised $33,703.75. They faced a third contender, Richard Dorfman, during a May runoff. He raised a total of $62,116.10, city records show.

Their financial reports for the general election filed by a deadline comparable to the latest filings of the current candidates — Feb. 22, 2013 — showed the three had raised the following amounts by that time:

  • Atwell — $8,299.30.
  • Chapman — $13,070.
  • Dorfman — $37,098.06.

Atwell chose not to run for re-election this year.

Details in the reports

Patrick Gannon. Image from his Facebook campaign page

Hyde’s largest single contribution in the latest reporting period — $250 — came from the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association’s Political Action Committee, his report shows.

His expenditures from Feb. 11 to Feb. 24 totaled $5,664.85, his filing says. The two biggest payments — $1,000 each — went to Jeffrey Carman of Longboat Key for campaign consulting and canvassing. Carman’s LinkedIn account identifies him as a real estate investor and managing director of Carman Enterprises Political Consulting. His LinkedIn profile also says he is Hyde’s campaign manager.

Between Feb. 11 and Feb. 24, Brody received $4,150 in cash and checks from 29 individuals; 17 of the contributions were at the $200 level. Among the people who gave him that amount during that period was Sarasota County Clerk of Court Karen Rushing, Brody’s report says.

Under city law, $200 is the maximum allowed from a single contributor.

Fredd Atkins. Image from his campaign website

Fourteen of the individuals who contributed to Brody’s campaign from Feb. 11 to Feb. 24 are attorneys, according to the report.

He received another $228.65 in in-kind contributions.

During that same period, he spent $2,788.22, his filing says.

His biggest single expense was $1,250, which went to his campaign manager, Frank Cirillo, the document shows. He paid another $789.24 for mailers, the report says, while he spent $789.24 for mailers.

Mikael Sandstrom. Image from his Facebook campaign page

Ahearn-Koch received $493.60 in monetary contributions during the latest reporting period, while another $155.70 reflected in-kind contributions, her filing shows. Two of the latter came from past city commissioners — Terry Turner and Mollie Cardamone — in the form of “food for campaign,” the report says. Both Turner and Cardamone have endorsed her. Cardamone also is a past mayor of Sarasota.

Matt Sperling. News Leader photo

Of the 45 individual contributions she received from Feb. 11 to Feb. 24, The Sarasota News Leader counted 18 of them at the $200 level.

Ahearn-Koch’s largest expense from Feb. 11 to Feb. 24, her report shows, was $1,500 for campaign mailers, which she paid to a Jacksonville company.

From Feb. 11 to Feb. 24, Gannon brought in $3,725 from 28 individuals, his filing says, and he spent $8,152.04. Gannon’s biggest expenditures from Feb. 11 to Feb. 24 also were for printing and mailing materials, his report notes. He paid a total of $4,160.93 to Andrick & Associates of Sarasota for that purpose.

For this latest reporting period, Sandstrom’s filing shows his largest expense was $57.72, which went to Staples for yard signs.