Robert Zur Schmiede has taken the lead in campaign contributions for the Laguna Beach City Council race with $54,443 donated to him so far, according to financial disclosure statements filed earlier this week.
Contender Jon Madison, who led in collecting contributions through June 30, comes in second with cumulative donations totaling $53,455 for the period ending Sept. 30. Disclosures discrediting Madison’s professional and academic claims came in the final weeks of the reporting period and may have cooled the pace of contributions. In the latest reporting period from July 1 to Sept. 30, contributions to Madison came in at only $6,550, less than half as much as collected by incumbent Kelly Boyd or Zur Schmiede.
Incumbent Toni Iseman, who didn’t announce her candidacy until August, made up for her late entry by racking up 171 donations amounting to $37,083. That places her in third place just ahead of Boyd, who has taken in a total of $34,029 since the start of his campaign.
Candidate Michele Hall reports cash donations of $7,162 since the start of her
campaign, and candidate Paul Merritt, who announced his candidacy in August, has received $3,613 in monetary contributions, according to the disclosures they filed this week.
Village Laguna, a group that supports village character, also reported receiving $32,062 in contributions in the July 1-Sept. 20 period, and has $21,329 remaining in its treasury. The organization announced its support for Iseman and Zur Schmiede.
The candidates’ campaign disclosure statements for the period from July 1 to Sept. 30 were due on Sunday, Oct. 5, but expected the following business day. As of Thursday, the City Clerk’s office had not yet received a statement from the remaining candidate, Eli Grossman, who announced his candidacy in August.
As of Sept. 30, just five weeks before election day, Zur Schmiede had the most to spend on his campaign efforts, with a balance of $32,403, followed by Iseman with $27,211, Boyd with $24,553, Madison with $21,744, Merritt with $1,837, and Hall with $1,552,.
