City council campaign: Mitchell leads in fund raising, Villalobos leads in spending

Mayoral candidate Travis Mitchell received substantially more monetary contributions for his campaign than any other candidate seeking a position on the city council in next month’s elections, but District 4 candidate Alex Villalobos led the pack in expenditures.

According to the campaign finance reports filed by each of the candidates, Mitchell received $2,788.66 in political contributions during the period, almost four times the $737 raised by District 1 candidate Marco Pizana, who was second to Mitchell in the amount of monetary contributions received. Pizana’s report was also noteworthy because it says that all his contributions came from individuals who gave him $50 or less.

Austin homebuilder Clark Wilson and Hays County Commissioner Will Conley, who contributed $500 each, were the leading contributors to Mitchell’s campaign. Outgoing Mayor Todd Webster was the third leading Mitchell contributor, donating $233.66. Mitchell’s itemized campaign expenses totaled $2,898.44. He was the only candidate with money left in his campaign treasury, $1,093.93. Mitchell also loaned his campaign $2,000 in July.

Bill Sinor was the only one of Mitchell’s challengers to claim any political contributions and his amounted to $120, just 4 percent of Mitchell’s total. Sinor also claimed all his contributions were $50 or less. He also reported spending only $90 on his campaign. Nicole Romero-Piche reported no campaign contributions and $25.64, for business cards and name tags, in campaign expenditures. Jaime Sanchez, the fourth candidate in the race, apparently failed to file the required paperwork.

Pizana was not only the fund-raising winner in the District 1, he also spent more than Dex Ellison, the other candidate in the race. Pizana listed his campaign expenditures at $1,538.16 while Ellison claimed his were $1,064.14, all of which came out of his own pocket.

The District 4 numbers were interesting for a number of reasons. Villalobos listed $353 in campaign contributions — including $100 from Angelita and Rosalio Tobias and an identical amount from Teresa and Michael Tobias — and $3,050 in expenditures, that included a $2.15 expenditure at a CVS Pharmacy in Kyle and an $8.99 expense at a Walgreen’s in San Marcos on the same day. He listed both of those expenses under the category "food/beverage," while a $4.01 expense incurred four days earlier at the In & Out Burgers in San Marcos was listed under "other."

Tim McHutchion, the other candidate in that race, reported receiving $450 in monetary contributions to his campaign, $250 of which also came from Wilson. However, it appears David Salazar, who is also listed as McHutchion’s campaign treasurer, spent $1,509.19, which was listed on McHutchion’s report as "in-kind contributions," to help finance the campaign’s "advertising expenses." McHutchion reported he spent just $415.02 from his campaign fund on campaign expenses during the reporting period, which comes to just under 14 percent of what his rival spent.