Here’s who’s raising, spending the most money in Wichita City Council races

The six Wichita City Council candidates netted a combined $128,634 in campaign contributions between July 23 and Oct. 21, Sedgwick County election data shows.

That’s the most money raised by council candidates in the final three-month reporting period before Election Day in at least six cycles, Eagle research found.

The rapid fundraising efforts follow an August primary where two challengers closely aligned with Mayor Brandon Whipple — Maggie Ballard and Mike Hoheisel — received more votes than council members looking to hold their seats.

All three incumbents outraised challengers, topped by District 6 council member Cindy Claycomb’s $64,450. Claycomb has collected $119,430 since 2019, nearly three times as much money as any other council candidate.

She also spent the most of any candidate between late July and October — $105,293.

Ballard, who will look to unseat Claycomb next Tuesday, raised $22,017 and spent $16,466 in the last three months.

Ballard captured 44% of the vote to Claycomb’s 41% in the August primary.

District 3 incumbent Jared Cerullo raised the second most money of any candidate — $22,435 — and spent $9,653. Challenger Hoheisel, who edged out Cerullo by two percentage points in the primary, raised $9,422 and spent $4,428.

District 1 council member Brandon Johnson garnered $9,555 in donations, the least of any incumbent but still significantly more than challenger Myron Ackerman’s $755. Johnson also outspent Ackerman $9,128 to $986.

The District 1 contest was not on the primary ballot because only two candidates filed to run.

Ackerman was the only candidate who did not receive any contributions from corporations, political action committees or unions in the last three months.

The City Council voted in 2015 to allow corporate and PAC donations in council races — in addition to contributions from Wichita citizens. Individuals, businesses and other entities can give no more than $500 at a time.

Claycomb collected $16,900 from corporations, including nine separate $500 donations from limited liability companies that all list developer Dave Burks’ 151 N Rock Island suite as their address in secretary of state filings.

Ballard, Claycomb’s opponent, received significantly less in corporate contributions — $2,500 — including $500 from ABC Recycling LLC, which gave the same amount to Johnson.

Several other businesses gave to multiple candidates, including Sky Trampoline Park and Leap Family Entertainment, which gifted $500 each to Johnson and Cerullo.

The largest proportion of corporate donations, however, were from the construction and development industries, which came in particularly strong for incumbents Claycomb and Cerullo.

Overall, Cerullo collected $11,000 from businesses and LLCs, accounting for nearly half of the $22,435 he raised in the last three months.

Hoheisel, Cerullo’s challenger, didn’t receive any corporate contributions but he did accept $1,675 from unions and PACs, including $500 donations from the local electricians union, the local firefighters union and the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation.

Hoheisel also collected $500 from Mayor Brandon Whipple and a combined $950 in two contributions from the mayor’s wife, Chelsea Whipple, who also made a $46.85 in-kind contribution of office supplies to the Hoheisel campaign.

The combined $128,634 in campaign contributions for this year’s candidates tops the $109,809 that council candidates amassed for the same pre-election reporting period in 2019.

In the last three months of the 2013, 2015 and 2017 election cycles, city council candidates never raised more than $47,000 in aggregate. Donors did spend $120,735 in the waning months of the 2011 campaign.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, but the early voting period runs from now until Nov. 1. Satellite locations throughout Sedgwick County will open Thursday and close Saturday.

Polling places will be open for voting on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Both machine voting and paper ballot voting options will be available.

To find your assigned polling location, check your voter card, call the Sedgwick County Election office at 316-660-7100 or use this Voter View locator website from the Kansas Secretary of State Office.

Total money raised this election cycle

1. Claycomb: $119,430

2. Ballard: $41,462

3. Cerullo: $35,246

4. Johnson: $21,805

5. Hoheisel: $18,944

6. Ackerman: $1,040

Proportion of donations from corporations, PACs and unions this period

1. Cerullo: 49%

2. Claycomb: 31%

3. Johnson: 29%

4. Ballard: 19%

5. Hoheisel: 18%

6. Ackerman: 0%

Remaining cash on-hand

1. Claycomb: $36,547

2. Cerullo: $22,129

3. Ballard: $18,125

4. Johnson: $16,776

5. Hoheisel: $5,403

6. Ackerman: $54

Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Wichita Eagle

This story was originally published October 27, 2021 at 2:30 PM.