A Mixed Bag of Campaign Coffers

Doreen Farr, in her quest for reelection to the 3rd District Supervisor seat, reported bringing in $99,451 over the last period, which extended from July 2011 through the end of the year.

Her opponent Steve Pappas, meanwhile, brought in no money and instead gave himself a $650 loan. He announced he was running for the seat on December 28, leaving him only three days to raise any money, so it comes as little surprise his account is a bit light. He has $19,200 in outstanding loans to himself.

But if past elections are any indication, he shouldn’t have any issue coming up with the cash. His primary financial supporters in the 2008 election – which Pappas lost to Farr – contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign. Pappas has fought the results of that election in court ever since. Rancher and Santa Ynez Valley Journal owner Nancy Crawford-Hall gave Pappas more than $400,000 for his election run and subsequent legal battle, while the Herthel family, which owns a Valley-based veterinary clinic, as well as Platinum Performance, an animal supplement manufacturing company which buys weekly full-page ads on the back of Crawford-Hall’s newspaper, pitched in more than $150,000.

In her latest filing, Farr reported $111,116 in cash on-hand. Some of her biggest contributors include the County Firefighters Union ($40,000), Richard Whited, founder and president of Quicksilver Trading Inc. ($9,500), fellow Supervisor Salud Carbajal ($2,500), her ex-husband Jim Farr ($5,000), and John Poitras, Bob Field, and Parker Montgomery, three Santa Ynez Valley activists who lean conservative, but each gave $3,500.

Meanwhile, incumbent 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray is finding herself in the midst of a battle to hold her seat. Rancher Peter Adam brought in $22,799 from 11 different contributors, including $3,900 from Teixeira Farms. All his contributions came from local contributors. Gray meanwhile, gave herself a $25,500 loan, but raised no money from July through December. Her campaign has $25,296 in the bank, but also owes $32,070 in outstanding debt.

The primary is June 5.