Evans raising, spending more than opponents
By MICHAEL CLARK
Staff Writer, 609-272-7204
Published: Saturday, May 10, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY - The first round of campaign finance reports shows Mayor Scott Evans with a substantial lead over his opponents in fundraising, with more than $51,000 in the bank to mount his campaign to regain the mayor's seat.Evans more than doubled former Mayor Lorenzo Langford's $19,576 in campaign dollars and raked in nearly seven times more donations than Assistant Business Administrator Domenic Cappella.With that extra money, the mayor's camp in the June Democratic primary has also out-spent his challengers considerably, spending all but about $5,000 of his funding. Langford has spent $11,071 and Cappella $6,470.Evans, who was vice president of the city firefighters union, largely leveraged his fire and union connections. He accumulated nearly $18,000 between contributions from unions, firefighter unions, firefighter political action committees and individual firefighters.His largest contribution came from IBEW Local 351, of Pennsauken, Camden County, which donated $5,000 to Evans' campaign. The union gave the same amount to Evans' political rival, Councilman George Tibbitt, during his re-election campaign last fall.
"You'll see the larger amounts from out of the city are from the labor unions," said Jack Berenato, a city attorney and Evans' campaign treasurer. "They know he's pro-union, all the way. He'll keep up the construction and keep those jobs going."But Evans' support doesn't stop at his union brothers.The mayor's donors also feature several with interests in current city development, including $2,000 from city attorney Dan Gallagher, a close friend of Evans' whose law firm represents Penn National Gaming. The Pennsylvania-based company has strong aspirations of establishing itself in the resort and publicly sought Bader Field and other local parcels.One tract off Rt. 30 that Penn National is eyeing for a casino project is co-owned by Stephen Frankel, a local real estate broker who also contributed $1,000 to Evans' campaign.George J. Badame, Jr. and Edward Cettina, whom each contributed $2,000 and did not list their occupations, are both high-ranking officials with Tishman Construction, which is currently building Revel Entertainment's $2 billion casino.Berenato said his candidate's success is mostly because of their early campaign start. He expected the differences to level off as the June primary approaches.Evans' bolstered finances did little to concern his opposing campaigns."I read his campaign report, all his support is outside of the city," said Steve Layman, head of the Cappella campaign. "All that money doesn't mean he has the support of the city."Cappella's campaign, which is being defeated financially by Evans by a 7-1 margin, only garnered $4,500 in contributions more than $300. However, Cappella nearly matched Langford in small donors, with only a $375 difference. But Evans is dominating in that category, too, with almost $10,000 in contributions under $300. "We're not concerned about their fundraising prowess," said Langford's spokesman Kevin Hall, who referred specific contribution questions to campaign manager and city school board President RaShun Stewart. "No amount of money is going to shade his vulnerability that he is not qualified to be mayor."The bulk of Langford's proceeds came from an in-kind contribution from Urban Vote-NJ, a political action committee based in Galloway. The PAC, which contributed heavily to city school board candidates aligned with Stewart, provided services for the campaign valued at $4,550, which included security, insurance and rent for the camp's Atlantic Avenue headquarters.However, a $3,650 check provided by Urban Vote-NJ on April 22 is also listed in the line item, but is not accounted for in the report's total contributions. The PAC's election law report, which was filed on April 15, does not detail the contributions made to Langford's campaign.Stewart did not return calls seeking comment. Shelley Williams, the PAC's treasurer, would only say Friday that she filed the PAC report properly.Many of Langford's other contributors consisted of people who benefited from his former administration. He received $1,000 from Irving Jacoby, an assistant city solicitor under Langford; $500 from the former mayor's Emergency Services Director Tom Foley and $1,000 from Henry Warner, an attorney awarded a contract during Langford's time in office.Spending has gone to general election needs for the three campaigns, including posters, t-shirts and office supplies. However, Evans was the only candidate who listed payments for his get-out-the-vote effort.The mayor enlisted some remnants of former Mayor Bob Levy's campaign, paying nearly $1,000 to a handful of Levy supporters for get out the vote, including Ramona Stephens, a city employee whom imprisoned former City Council President Craig Callaway refers to as his wife.The next finance reports are due 11 days before the June 3 primary, May 23, and the final report must be filed 20 days after the election.To e-mail Michael Clark at The Press:Michael.Clark@pressofac.comBY THE NUMBERSn Scott Evans:Total contributions: $51,287.92Contributions $300 or less: $9,950Contributions more than $300: $41,337.92Top contributor: IBEW Local 351n Lorenzo Langford:Total contributions: $19,576Contributions $300 or less: $2,975Contributions more than $300: $12,051Top contributor: Urban Vote-NJ, political action committeen Domenic Cappella:Total contributions: $7,400Contributions $300 or less: $2,600Contributions more than of $300: $4,500Top contributor: Adam Burkett, of Absecon
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