FROM LEFT: Crump, Craft, Simpson, Smith/Photos via campaigns
Candidates in the City of Amarillo runoff election filed campaign finance reports last week. Here are the highlights:
Place 1 candidate Dean Crump outraised opponent Josh Craft. Crump reported $89,350 in contributions. His largest donor was Donald & Twanna Powell, who donated $6,000. Donald Powell also gave a further $3,500, bringing the couple’s total contribution during the reporting period to $9,500.
Crump received several $5,000 donations. Those donations were from Mike Hughes, Trevor Caviness, Chris Scharbauer, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Bradley, Steve & Lea Wright, Kelly & Blaine Roberts, Ralph Ellis, Greg Mitchel, and Street Properties. Crump also reported support from Protect and Serve PAC, who contributed $4,000, and the Amarillo Association of Realtors, who contributed $3,500. Crump also received an in-kind contribution in the form of a billboard from Rockrose Development.
Crump reported $112,930.48 in expenses. Most of that was spent with SKP Creative and Murphy Nasica & Associates.
Josh Craft reported raising $65,810 and spending $51,718.56. His largest donor was Alex & Cheryl Fairly, who gave $50,000 to Craft’s campaign. His next largest donor was Lisa Cloninger, who gave $10,000. Most of Craft’s expenses were to NoBox Creative.
In the Place 4 runoff, Les Simpson reported $43,950 in contributions and $48,147 in expenses. Simpson’s largest donors were Jerry & Margaret Hodge, who gave $25,000, Amarillo Association of Realtors, which gave $4,000, Greg & Julie Mitchell, who gave $2,000, David Elizalde, who gave $1,500, and Trevor Caviness, who gave $1,300. Similar to Craft, most of Simpson’s expenses were to NoBox Creative.
Simpson’s opponent Claudette Smith raised $19,050 and spent $41,992.45. Her largest contributors were Chesney’s Whiskey Saloon and Craig Gaultiere, who each gave $5,000 to Smith’s campaign. She also received $3,000 from Burkett Outdoor Advertising and $1,000 from Jimmy Lee McAdams Revocable Trust. Her largest expenses were to Burkett Outdoor Advertising, VistaPrint, USPS, Textedly, A.G.E. Graphics, and Brandt Fricker. Smith also noted expenses with addresses listed in Australia, Bulgaria, and Israel.
Both Simpson and Smith have also loaned large amounts of money to their campaigns. Simpson reported $51,100 in outstanding loans as of the end of the reporting period, while Smith reported $29,485.81 in outstanding loans.
Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which has been running television ads supporting Les Simpson, reported a $145,850 donation from Alex Fairly, as well as $35,000 from the Fairly-owned Dealon LLC. While the PAC has supported Simpson, it has also spent money on various other items, including supporting gun rights, vaccine choice, and the Republican Party of Texas, as well as opposing abortion.
Election day is Saturday, June 24th. Polls will be open from 7 am to 7 pm. Be sure to check our voter guide at AmarilloVotes.online.