Sixth Ward candidates get early start on fundraising

The April 4 City Council election is 35 days away, and Sixth Ward candidates Valerie Barnes and Barbara Hoppe are already out asking Columbia residents to reach into their pockets and help the cause.

In the first month after declaring their candidacy, both Barnes and Hoppe have raised more than $3,000 each. The source of that money, however, could tell more about the race than the amount.

Candidates had to file the first of several campaign finance reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission by Feb. 23, 40 days before the municipal election. The reports provide an account of all money raised and spent before Feb. 18. So far, candidates in the Sixth Ward have raised far more than the two candidates in the Second Ward: incumbent Chris Janku and challenger Brian Toohey.

Of the $3,416 Hoppe has raised, $2,691 has been in contributions of less than $100. Barnes has raised $3,795, with only $495 coming from people giving less than $100.

Barnes, a real estate agent, has received 12 contributions of more than $100 from people and corporations representing Columbia’s development community. Eight of the donations are for the maximum of $325, and all but one of those are from corporations connected to either Elvin or Billy Sapp, two brothers who are prominent developers in Columbia. Barnes is also Elvin Sapp’s daughter.

Barnes, however, said this is not a pattern she sees continuing.

“That was just to get me started,” Barnes said. “That’s just how it worked out. I really have not hit the fundraising that hard yet, to be quite honest.”

The $325 maximum campaign donation is determined by the population of the electoral district the candidate seeks to represent, said Joe Carroll, director of campaign finance for the Missouri Ethics Commission. The population number follows census data, not the number of registered voters, Carroll said. For any district with a population less than 100,000, the limit is set at $325 per person. There is no limit on what a candidate can give himself or herself.

Hoppe, an administrative attorney and environmental activist, has received four donations of more than $100. The two largest contributions are from environmentalist Dee Dokken and former Sixth Ward Councilman John Coffmann. The majority of her contributions, however, have been around $25, Hoppe said.

Clyde Wilson, a former Columbia mayor, is Hoppe’s treasurer.

Hoppe has set a preliminary fundraising goal of $10,000 and has acknowledged she probably won’t be able to raise as much as Barnes. Instead, she said she hopes a grass-roots approach will work to her advantage.

“What we don’t have in dollars, hopefully we’ll have in people,” Hoppe said.

Barnes declined to comment on her goal for raising money and to set a maximum for how much she might spend. “It will all depend on my fundraising,” she said.

Barnes’ treasurer, Robert Hofsess, said he had not talked with his candidate about how much they hope to raise.

Both Barnes and Hoppe said they plan to use the money for yard signs and other forms of advertising.

And as April 4 marches closer, both candidates are beginning their fundraising efforts in earnest.

Hoppe has been canvassing Sixth Ward neighborhoods since early February, and Barnes said she hopes to kick off her door-to-door efforts this weekend. She said she has waited until now so she would have a better idea of her plan of attack.

“I wanted to get my budget,” Barnes said. “I wanted to know where I was going to spend it and work that direction instead of going out and gathering a lot of money and then having it to spend.”

Hoppe will be hosting an event March 3 at the Stephens Lake Park pavilion. Barnes said she is shooting for a mid-March date for her fundraising event.

Meanwhile, in the Second Ward, neither candidate has a specific financial goal in mind. Janku’s campaign finance report listed $300 in signs used for previous campaigns and $275 left over from his last campaign as his source of funding so far.

Janku said he will be raising more funds in the future and, although he does not have a specific goal at this time, he has an idea of what type of finances it takes to win a campaign. He said various people have expressed interest in supporting his candidacy.

Toohey’s campaign finance report had not reached the Boone County Clerk’s office as of Monday, but he said the report is in the mail.

Toohey said he is not sure how much money he will need to raise to win the election or who his major supporters will be. He said he and his campaign team will begin talking about fundraisers this week.

All candidates are required to file another campaign finance report eight days before the election.

Missourian reporter Kate Cerve contributed to this report.