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