Simplified: With less than two weeks until the June 2 election, candidates looking to lead city government have spent a more than half a million dollars so far. Here's a closer look at how money is moving in the mayoral and council races.
Why it matters
- A Sioux Falls Simplified analysis of campaign finance forms filed this week shows more than $534,000 has been spent so far between the five mayoral candidates and 13 City Council candidates.
- That's only what's been spent, though. In total, candidates have raised more than $819,000. The money has largely come from individual campaign donations, though a little over $100,000 of the money – and largely concentrated among mayoral candidates – is from political action committees (PACs).
- Most of the money is in the mayor's race, where the five candidates have spent a combined $371,000 so far in the campaign. Leading the charge in both funds raised and funds spent is Christine Erickson, followed by Jamie Smith – both of whom spent more than $125,000 as of Monday.
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How much have candidates raised?
Total raised by City Council candidates (most to least):
Brady Kerkman, Southeast: $61,336*
Mike Crane, Southeast: $43,044
Rich Merkouris, At-Large B: $42,756
James Oppenheimer, At-Large A: $38,634
Bob Trzynka, Central: $31,633
Vince Danh, At-Large A: $28,075
Juliann Perrigo Talkington, At-Large A: $15,000**
Zak Okuwe, Central: $14,257
Sara Pankonin, Southeast: $7,637
Zach DeBoer, Central: $5,607
Samantha Scarlata, At-Large B: $1,440
Matthew McKinley, Central: $1,382
Tommy Kunz, Central: $200
*This includes more than $40,000 in loans from an LLC owned by Kerkman.
**Self-funded
It's worth noting that by and large, money flowing to candidates is coming from individual donors who live in town. Most candidates also have bought in to their own campaigns at some level, as well.
- Only two council candidates received any contributions from PACs – Mike Crane, who got $1,000 from a realtor PAC and James Oppenheimer, who received $7,500 from local businessman Matt Paulson's PAC.
Total raised by mayoral candidate:
Christine Erickson: $221,216
Jamie Smith: $146,081
Joe Batchellor: $108,995
Greg Jamison: $51,559
David Zokaites: $805*
*Self-funded
While there's not a lot of PAC funding in the City Council races, that's not the case for mayoral candidates. About $1 in every $5 raised comes from PACs, which candidates can use as a tool to get more cash without running into individual campaign contribution limits.
Not all candidates are seeing the same spread of contributions.
- Jamie Smith, for example, received only $4,500 from PACs, while relying more heavily on both individual donations and the $44,000 left in his gubernatorial campaign coffers.
- Christine Erickson's campaign funds come from a wide variety of sources, including business contributions, a combined $20,000 from 11 different in-state PACs and more than $10,000 in donated goods or services.
- Greg Jamison's campaign is funded about half by individual donors and half by contributions from a combination of in-state PACs and other candidate campaign funds, including $1,000 from his previous state legislative campaign fund.
- Joe Batcheller's $55,000 in PAC funds is almost entirely from a PAC called "Siouxper PAC," a committee led by Sioux Falls residents Matt Barker and Cory Kerkvliet. The rest of his campaign is funded largely by individual donors.
How much have candidates spent?
Total spent by City Council candidates:
Mike Crane, Southeast: $35,525
Bob Trzynka, Central: $27,554
Rich Merkouris, At-Large B: $27,494
James Oppenheimer, At-Large A: $26,017
Zak Okuwe, Central: $10,869
Juliann Perrigo Talkington, At-Large A: $10,315
Vince Danh, At-Large A: $8,415
Sara Pankonin, Southeast: $6,956
Brady Kerkman, Southeast: $4,871
Zach DeBoer, Central: $2,618
Samantha Scarlata, At-Large B: $1,440
Matthew McKinley, Central: $941
Tommy Kunz, Central: $181
Total spent by mayoral candidates
Christine Erickson: $153,643
Jamie Smith: $126,353
Joe Batcheller: $48,122
Greg Jamison: $42,395
David Zokaites: $805
What happens next?
It's the final push before the June 2 election, so undoubtedly the spending will continue over the next couple weeks.
Looking for more information on the candidates? Find a complete election guide here:
Megan Raposa
