Latest Statements Show Santoro Tops Candidate Contributions

While all seven candidates who ran for Glendora city council on March 8 file their final statements at the end of July, latest contribution reports show that councilman-elect Joe Santoro and incumbent Doug Tessitor lead the group in total contributions.

By the end of the campaign, Santoro, who grabbed the third and final seat, led the group with $19,059.21 including $8,700 he contributed to his own campaign and supporter donations. Santoro accepted donations ranging from $100 to $600 from community and business supporters, the most coming from Diamond Ridge Development, LLC.

The re-elected Doug Tessitor raised $16,413 as of Feb. 19. Most of Tessitor’s campaign was also financed with community and business donations, including those from Phyllis Shih of Diamond Ridge Development – who contributed $2,500 – and Mendell Thompson from America’s Christian Credit Union.

Although he noted that he did not accept money from Athens Services, Tessitor did receive a $200 contribution from Athens CEO Gary Clifford.

Judy Nelson, who garnered the most votes and her first seat on city council, came in fifth in candidate contributions with $8,453.11 as of March 9.

Jason Nagy and John Fields – who came in fourth and fifth in the final voter tally thus missing seats on the council – received $2,000 each from Athens Services.

Erica Landmann-Johnsey, who came in sixth in the polls, raised over $9,700, mostly on supporter donations.

Still, all of the candidates’ numbers are a far cry from the amount of money candidate Cynthia Carrasco, who came in last in the precincts, raised for her campaign. With just $1,315, Carrasco said she entered the race knowing she wanted to run a low-cost campaign to focus on getting to know the voters rather than raising campaign funds.

“Running this campaign with the amount of money we had was one of things I was most proud of in this experience,” said Carrasco.

Below are campaign contributions for each candidate by the most recently filed statement.

* Candidates file their final statements on July 31. A follow-up report will include updated tallies and contributions.