Put up time for the mayor

    When Michael Nutter emerged from a pack of five Democrats to win the mayor’s office in 2007, one of the big reasons was his determined fundraising. He understood that with the city’s campaign finance limits, you’d have to be a tireless solicitor of funds and build a broad base of contributors. He raised nearly $8 million, which was pretty impressive.

    Yesterday was the legal deadline for reporting campaign funds raised in 2010, so it was a moment when the city’s political community would look to see how much Nutter had raised with the benefits of incumbency.

    The results weren’t exactly impressive. Nutter raised $646,000 last year and actually spent a little more than that, leaving him with $1,248,000 in the bank on January 1st.

    His campaign released a list of his contributions in January, (which weren’t included in the report) which added another $363,000, giving him $1.6 million to start the campaign year.

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    It isn’t overwhelming, but since it appears he’ll have no credible opposition in the Democratic primary, it may be enough. The real question is whether Tom Knox, who’s strongly hinted that he’ll run as an independent in November, actually takes the leap.

    I tried to reach him, but he’s out of the country. If he were to decide to drop $5 million of his own into the contest it could get interesting.

    Nutter’s only announced Republican opponent is John Featherman, who reported $941 on hand. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

    Also of note in Nutter’s report: he gave $200,000 to the Pennsylvania Democratic House Campaign Committee, supporting Dwight Evans and company’s unsuccessful effort to hold onto control of the state house.

    And he gave $10,000 contributions to six City Council members: Marian Tasco, Bill Greenlee, Jim Kenney, Curtis Jones, Blondell Reynolds Brown, and Wilson Goode, Jr.

    He also gave $15,000 to the 52nd ward Democratic committee. Nutter is leader of the fightin’ 52nd. I’ve appended the press release on Nutter’s fundraising at the end of this post.

    I also looked at finance reports filed by candidates for other offices. Many were missing, and the Board of Election office closed before I could finishing reviewing all of those who did file, so I’ll follow up with more on them in a future post.

    For the moment, I’ll note that the fundraising leader among the Council candidates was a surprise: Republican John Giordano, who’s running for an at-large seat. He showed $100,079 on hand.

    Should be an interesting year.

    NUTTER CAMPAIGN PULLS IN $1 MILLION SINCE JUNE Campaign Finance Report filed today

    (PHILADELPHIA) — The Nutter for Mayor campaign has raised $1 million since June 2010 — for a total of about $1.6 million on hand by the end of January 2011.

    The information is part of the campaign finance report filed with the City Board of Ethics today, Monday, Jan. 31, in accordance with the city’s campaign finance laws.

    The report covers contributions through Dec. 31, 2010, although additional campaign information covers January 1, 2011, through January 31, 2011.

    “I am grateful for the support I have received thus far,” Mayor Nutter said, “and for the confidence of those who have not only believed in what my administration has accomplished thus far for Philadelphia, but believe in what we can accomplish for the future of our great city.”

    Nutter’s campaign was very active in 2010. In addition to raising more than a million dollars for Democrats across the Commonwealth, the campaign also contributed more than $337,000 directly to various candidates at the local and state level.

    Among other campaign events for February, is the first scheduled fundraiser for Nutter’s campaign tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Comcast Center.

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