Follow the Money, Part Four

It’s time to look at self-financing. Which MoCo candidates depend on themselves the most? Let’s find out.

Total Receipts from Self (Includes Loans)

1. Ben Kramer, Delegate/County Council Challenger: $220,450
2. Mike Lenett, Senator (D-19): $164,352
3. Rob Garagiola, Senator (D-15): $149,428
4. Ike Leggett, County Executive: $125,000
5. Jeff Waldstreicher, Delegate (D-18): $121,442
6. Rona Kramer, Senator (D-14): $105,000
7. Robin Ficker, County Executive/Council Challenger: $91,272
8. Howard Denis, County Council: $87,000
9. Dana Beyer, Delegate Challenger (D-18): $83,203
10. Roger Manno, Delegate (D-19): $70,370

Percentage of Total Receipts from Self (Includes Loans)

1. Robin Ficker, County Executive/Council Challenger: 94.0%
2. Ben Kramer, Delegate/County Council Challenger: 93.9%
3. Mike Lenett, Senator (D-19): 67.6%
4. Jeff Waldstreicher, Delegate (D-18): 64.8%
5. Alec Stone, Delegate Challenger (D-19): 64.0%
6. Dana Beyer, Delegate Challenger (D-18): 62.5%
7. Cary Lamari, County Council Challenger: 54.5%
8. Rona Kramer, Senator (D-14): 47.9%
9. Roger Manno, Delegate (D-19): 45.7%
10. Reggie Oldak, Delegate Challenger (D-16): 41.0%

61. Kumar Barve, House Majority Leader (D-17): 0.0%
61. Bill Bronrott, Delegate (D-16): 0.0%
61. Jean Cryor, Delegate (D-15): 0.0%
61. Valerie Ervin, County Council: 0.0%
61. Jennie Forehand, Senator (D-17): 0.0%
61. Henry Heller, Delegate (D-19): 0.0%
61. Cheryl Kagan, Delegate/Senate Challenger (D-17): 0.0%
61. Nancy King, Senator (D-39): 0.0%
53. Ida Ruben, Senator (D-20): 0.0%
52. Sheila Hixson, Delegate (D-20): 0.1%

Politicians do not spend vast sums of their personal money on their own races unless they have to. And most of our leaders were in very competitive races. Rob Garagiola beat incumbent Republican Senator Jean Roesser in his first race. All of the other top ten in total self-financing receipts ran for open seats. Howard Denis won an open seat in a 2000 special election, narrowly defeated Duchy Trachtenberg in 2002 and lost to Roger Berliner in 2006. First-time candidate Mike Lenett got 52% of the vote against two incumbent Delegates in the 2006 District 19 Senate primary. Ben Kramer, Robin Ficker and Dana Beyer share a common distinction: they are the only candidates in recent MoCo history to spend $70,000 or more of their own money on a losing race.

Here’s an estimate of receipts from family members. We included people who shared a surname or a residence with a candidate, or lived in the same residence with another person who did.

Total Receipts from Family (Includes Loans)

1. Rob Garagiola, Senator (D-15): $49,462
2. Duchy Trachtenberg, County Council: $36,650
3. Susan Lee, Delegate (D-16): $32,016
4. Jeff Waldstreicher, Delegate (D-18): $25,200
5. Nancy Navarro, School Board/County Council: $21,565
6. Anne Kaiser, Delegate (D-14): $20,001
7. Karen Montgomery, Delegate (D-14): $17,800
8. Rich Madaleno, Senator (D-18): $16,897
9. Howard Denis, County Council: $15,550
10. George Leventhal, County Council: $14,778

We question the result for Susan Lee, given the fact that “Lee” is a common surname in the Asian community.

Total Receipts from Self and Family (Includes Loans)

1. Ben Kramer, Delegate/County Council Challenger: $220,450
2. Rob Garagiola, Senator (D-15): $198,890
3. Mike Lenett, Senator (D-19): $164,952
4. Jeff Waldstreicher, Delegate (D-18): $146,642
5. Ike Leggett, County Executive: $130,365
6. Rona Kramer, Senator (D-14): $110,639
7. Howard Denis, County Council: $102,550
8. Duchy Trachtenberg, County Council: $94,650
9. Robin Ficker, County Executive/Council Challenger: $91,272
10. Dana Beyer, Delegate Challenger (D-18): $85,303

We’ll look at geography in Part Five.