Michael O’Donnell outraises Tim Norton in county race

Michael O’Donnell has raised nearly twice as much as Tim Norton so far in their race for Sedgwick County Commission, according to reports filed with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.

O’Donnell, a Republican state senator leaving that seat, raised $88,800 from Jan. 1 to July 21 in his bid to unseat Norton, the Democratic incumbent, in District 2, which includes south Wichita, Haysville and Clearwater. O’Donnell also loaned his campaign $2,000. Neither has a primary challenger.

Norton entered this year with $9,208 on hand. He has raised about $45,185 this year so far.

O’Donnell will enter the general election with a large war chest – he had $87,440 on hand on July 21. He has spent about $1,360 so far to cover the cost of the filing fee, checks and campaign pens.

Norton has spent almost $23,000, mostly on advertising, and has $31,610 on hand.

O’Donnell’s campaign received donations from developers and real estate brokers including Robert Baker, Stephen Clark, Steve Martens, David Wells, Gary Oborny and Jay Russell; business owners including Ron and Kendra Cornejo, Marty and Jenae Cornejo, Tom and Myra Devlin, Donald and Linda McGinty, and Rodney and Juliette Steven; companies including Crossland Construction, Hartman Oil, Lee Aero, March Oil, Vess Oil; and several LLCs affiliated with Bill Warren.

Norton got contributions from developers and the construction sector including Steve Barrett, Charles Eby and Jay Russell; former lieutenant governor candidate Jill Docking, state Senate candidate Lynn Rogers, former Sheriff Robert Hinshaw, Wichita City Council member Janet Miller, lawyers including Stan Andeel, Harvey Sorensen and Mike Stout; and businesses like Southfork Investment, Marketplace Properties, Foley Industries, Yingling Aviation, Tracy Electric and the Haysville Family MedCenter.

Norton, first elected in 2000, is the longest-standing county commissioner. He raised a similar amount by late July during his 2012 re-election run: $41,640. But his 2012 challenger, Ben Sauceda, had only raised $8,526 at that point in that race.

The challenger in the District 3 race, David Dennis, also far outraised incumbent Karl Peterjohn.

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Michael O’Donnell outraises Tim Norton in county race."