Iowa City candidates report campaign finances

IOWA CITY – Mayor Matt Hayek had the most money at his disposal among City Council candidate's leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

Hayek, the only incumbent in the race, received $890 in contributions in the past month, but he still had $10,433 from the previous filing period, according to reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

Thursday was the final pre-election deadline for campaign disclosure reports.

The four candidates for two at-large seats – Hayek and challengers Michelle Payne, Raj Patel and Jarrett Mitchell – survived an Oct. 11 primary. Campaign reports also were due with the state before the primary, so donations for some of them are spread across multiple reports.

Among the people who donated to Hayek's campaign are former Iowa City mayors Bill Ambrisco, John Balmer and Ernie Lehman and University of Iowa Vice President of Student Services Tom Rocklin, who teamed up with Hayek to support last year's 21-only bar law.

Hayek spent $8,757 this period, with the biggest expenditures for printing services and a campaign consultant.

Payne raised $3,170 this period to go with the $925 she had on hand. The three former mayors also made donations to her, along with former City Council members Bob Elliott and Dee Vanderhoef.

Payne did not report any expenditures but owes $1,183 for various items.

Patel received $2,170 and had $2,593 left over from the previous filing period. Former UI business school dean Gary Fethke and Johnson County Supervisor Janelle Rettig made donations, but the biggest contributor was Patel himself, putting $8,100 toward his campaign.

He reported $1,856 in expenditures in the report filed Thursday.

Mitchell has not been fundraising or putting up yard signs and did not file a report. Campaigns that receive or spend $750 or less do not need to file reports, and Mitchell said he has spent less than $300 and received $200.

Rick Dobyns and Steve Soboroff are running for one seat in District A.

Dobyns raised $1,605 in the past month to go with the $5,287 cash he had on hand at the start of the period.

Among the people who donated to his campaign are Rocklin and current council member Mike Wright.

Dobyns spent $4,863, mostly on campaign signs and printing services. He also repaid himself $900 for a loan he'd made to his campaign.

Sorboroff did not seek contributions and did not file a report. He said he is spending $520 of his own money to run ads on the radio station he owns, KCJJ 1630 AM, starting Friday.

Jim Throgmorton is unopposed in District C and had not filed a report as of 4:40 p.m.

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