Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe’s re-election campaign raised more than $7,000 during the latest reporting period.
That marked the most robust fundraising period to date in the early stages of what is now a seven-way race likely to pick up steam in the new year.
Lowe, who filed to launch a campaign for second term last January, and former Gainesville/Alachua County Airport Authority board chair Pete Johnson, who started his campaign in July, were the only two candidates who had done significant fundraising through Dec. 30, the cut off date for the most recent three month reporting period.
From Oct 1 through Dec., Lowe’s campaign received $7,210 from 81 contributors. That pushed his total cash contributions so far to $12,110.
Several current and former Democratic elected officials have contributed. Some of them included current city commissioners Thomas Hawkins and Lauren Poe; current county commissioners Charles “Chuck” Chestnut IV and Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson; School Board member Leanetta McNealy, Tax Collector Von Fraser.
Some of the former elected officials who contributed during the last reporting period included former city and county commissioner Paula DeLaney, and former city commissioner Warren Nielsen and David Coffey, who is a prominent local land use attorney.
Former county Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Jon Reiskind contributed on Dec. 13, before Democrat and former city commissioner Scherwin Henry signed up to run for Mayor.
Garrett Garner, Lowe’s campaign manager in 2010 and current mayoral aide, contributed $50.
Johnson received seven contributions totaling $1,200 during the last reporting period. That ran his total to date to $6,295.