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SALT LAKE CITY — Rocky is rolling in the dough, but Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall continues to maintain a sizable lead in campaign funding ahead of the city's mayoral election this November, according to newly released city election finance reports.
Mendenhall outraised former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, $212,195.48 to $101,779.73, between Feb. 15 and the latest reporting deadline on Monday, while local activist Michael Valentine tacked on $115.
The current mayor also collected nearly $75,000 more than Anderson at the February deadline, giving her almost twice the contributions of any other candidate during the 2023 fundraising period. Mendenhall also collected more than $160,000 in contributions collected in 2021 and 2022, giving her more of a head start in fundraising.
She also outspent her primary counterpart, $249,659.55 to $137,608.49, to this point in the election cycle, when taking into account 2021 and 2022 expenses.
Fundraising is essentially the only new development in Salt Lake City's intriguing mayoral race, especially since there are no municipal primary elections ahead of the ranked-choice election later this year. The election was moved to Nov. 21 to account for the special congressional election for Utah's 2nd Congressional District — which covers a good portion of the city.
Ian Koski, Mendenhall's campaign manager, told KSL.com on Wednesday that he doesn't believe the mayoral election will be decided by fundraising; however, it helps campaigns hire staff and continue advertising, which is why it matters.
"This report is another very clear indicator of the strong grassroots support Mayor Mendenhall has earned across the city. Salt Lakers want to see their city continue moving forward," he said. "Salt Lakers believe in her positive vision for the city and the constructive tone she has established as mayor. ... We've been working hard to build a data-driven, policy-focused campaign that engages voters honestly and effectively about the mayor's extensive record of results and her vision for a second term."
While behind in fundraising, Anderson remains as optimistic as ever. He views his campaign as a rebuke to the "status quo" when it comes to the city's current administration, particularly on how it has handled homelessness in the city.
Anderson said he isn't concerned because election spending has changed drastically over the past few decades. He told KSL.com on Wednesday that his campaign also relies heavily on social media advertising and volunteers, which he says helps his campaign reach voters in a more cost-efficient and effective manner than when he successfully ran for office in 1999 and 2003.
"I've never thought money should dictate electoral results and oftentimes it doesn't," Anderson said. "Now that we have a less expensive means through digital media and through buying targeted, streaming television ads and simply getting on social media, there's so many democratizing methods of communication that there's no excuse for people not to be aware of what's happening and what their choices are."
Monday's update comes as lawn campaign signs continue to pop up all over the city. The two leading candidates continue to rack up money from residents, local companies and even people who live outside of Salt Lake City and out of the state. For instance, the new reports note that Maverik Inc., donated $3,700 to Mendenhall's campaign, while Jody Wilkinson Acura sent $2,000 to Anderson's efforts over the past few months.
However, both candidates tout the amount of grassroots support they've received over the past few months. Koski said Mendenhall is "genuinely humbled" that she received 504 unique donors between Feb. 15 and Monday, nearly 300 of whom donated increments less than $99. Anderson also received many small donations over the most recent financial reporting period.
"I always am very impressed when you've got a large number of small contributions because that means people are opening wallets but they may not really be able to afford to contribute very much," Anderson said.
Both campaigns are eager to debate ahead of the November election, too. That's really when the election cycle, anchored by the current and former administrations, is expected to pick up.
It's also possible that other candidates could join the field, along with Mendenhall, Anderson and Valentine. The deadline for candidates to join is Aug. 15.
Until then, fundraising continues to be one of the few indicators of how the campaign trail is going. Oct. 5 will be the final reporting deadline before the general election.
City Council fundraising
This year's municipal election will also feature four city council races, now that there will be a special election for the newly vacated District 7 seat. Since that race is only beginning, there isn't data on campaign finances in that district.
Incumbents are leading in finance reports in the three other races, as follows:
District 2
- Alejandro Puy (incumbent): $13,085
District 4
- Ana Valdemoros (incumbent): $28,990.43
- Clayton Scrivner: $18,224.97
- Eva Lopez: $12,660
District 6
- Dan Dugan (incumbent): $21,414
- Semnani Taymour: $7,370.09
