Despite what's considered by most to be an easy re-election bid, Mayor Kevin Faulconer is raising and spending thousands more than his opponents.
New campaign finance reports show that from the start of the year to April 23, he raised $158,430 and spent $185,530. He also had $67,399 in unpaid bills.
In 2015, Faulconer raised $1,011,253 and spent $261,199.
His Democratic challenger, Ed Harris, raised $43,063 and spent $6,728, from the start of the year to April 23. He also had $3,500 in unpaid bills for the same reporting period. Harris is a former councilman and city lifeguard.
Independent Lori Saldaña raised $28,390 and spent $30,210 from the start of the year to April 23. She had $2,479 in unpaid bills for the same reporting period. She also loaned her campaign $10,000. Saldaña served in the Assembly as a Democrat from 2004 to 2010.
Neither Harris nor Saldaña had launched their mayoral campaigns in 2015.
"We are pleased the mayor has received so much support from San Diegans," said Faulconer’s campaign manager Francis Barraza in an email. "Unions from Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Washington D.C. spent more than $4.2 million dollars against him last election, so we decided early on that we were not going to take this race for granted."
Faulconer's biggest payments were to political consulting firms Revolvis Consulting and Golden State Consultants; polling firm Competitive Edge Research & Communication; voter research firm Political Data Inc.; and Washington, D.C.-based PR firm Monument Communications.
Communities United for Tomorrow's Economy, a political action committee supporting Faulconer and funded by The Lincoln Club and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, also spent more than $278,000 this year.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce's PAC also spent money in other local races, including on Republican City Council District 1 candidate Ray Ellis, Republican City Attorney candidate Robert Hickey and Democratic City Council District 9 candidate Ricardo Flores.
