Sullivan still out front in funding

In the most recent reporting period, which includes donations received between Feb. 2 and March 6, Sullivan collected almost $98,000 -- with nearly half that amount coming from people who anted up the maximum $500 allowed under state law.

Former state lawmaker Eric Croft reported about $107,000 in contributions during the same period, but $50,0000 of that came from the candidate himself. Similarly, Assemblywoman Sheila Selkregg donated $10,000 to her campaign last month for total contributions of $36,000 in the period.

Acting Mayor Matt Claman, the last of the six leading candidates to announce his campaign, picked up $42,000 in donations during that period.

Two other well-known candidates, former police chief and state public safety commissioner Walt Monegan and retired Anchorage cop Paul Honeman, received about $11,600 and $5,500, respectively.

Campaign totals, as of March 6:

• Sullivan has raised almost $275,000 and spent about $157,500. He had $117,000 in the bank.

• Croft has raised $195,000 and spent $112,000. He had about $82,500 left.

• Selkregg has raised $88,300 and spent about $72,800. She had about $14,500 in her campaign account.

• Claman, who didn't announce his campaign and start fundraising until late January, reported a total of about $52,000 in contributions. He has spent $27,800, lists debts of about $20,200 and had about $5,000 left.

• Monegan has raised a total of $25,200 and spent almost $12,000. He had about $12,600 left.

• Honeman reported total contributions of about $12,800 and expenses of $9,000, as well as a $2,000 debt. He shows $1,700 in the bank.

Various polls have showed Sullivan leading the crowded field with about 23 percent of the vote. He would need 45 percent on Election Day to avoid a runoff, and the five other candidates are jockeying to force that second campaign.

Croft said as much this week; he and his wife decided to take $50,000 they had set aside for a kitchen renovation project and instead pour it into his campaign on the last day possible, he said. Under state law, March 6 was the last day a candidate could give so much money to his or her campaign. From now until the election, $5,000 is the biggest allowable candidate contribution.

"This is as important a race as I can remember," said Croft, who served five terms in the state House and lost a bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2006. "We decided this was more important."

Selkregg also dipped into savings. The $10,000 she put into her campaign on Feb. 24 was money she had planned to spend on a trip to Africa, she said, but she has no regrets.

"The issue of money in campaigns has become such a big deal," Selkregg said, adding that she would prefer a system that allowed smaller contributions from all sources, political committees and individuals alike.

Her $10,000 is "a significant contribution on my part, but I believe in myself," she said.

Sullivan's quarter-million dollars in donations is nowhere near a record amount. By this time in his 2006 re-election campaign, for example, former Mayor Mark Begich had raised more than $600,000 and spent more than $455,000.

And big campaign budgets don't always equate success on Election Day. Former Mayor Tom Fink was vastly outspent by two opponents in the 1987 mayor's race, but ended up defeating Assemblyman Dave Walsh handily in a runoff that year.

Sullivan, a consultant and a partner in the downtown bar and restaurant McGinley's Pub, draws financial support from an array of interests and industries -- developers, people in building and transportation trades -- and he tends to collect it in bigger chunks than his opponents. Some 90 of Sullivan's 470-plus contributions in the most recent reporting period were the $500 maximum.

Croft and Claman, both attorneys, attracted money from other lawyers -- at least $8,600 for Croft and $8,900 for Claman in the recent reports.

Croft also won significant support from labor union political action committees, a total of about $8,500. Other candidates got little union money, except for donations from the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association. The police union donated $1,000 each to all the leading candidates except Sullivan.

Selkregg, a former city planning director and a faculty member at the University of Alaska Anchorage, got $900 from the Alaska Women's Political Caucus, along with money from architects, university employees, teachers, attorneys and others.

Monegan and Honeman received contributions from individual police and public safety officers as well as the Anchorage union committee.

Monegan's list of 78 donors also includes former Assemblyman Dick Tremaine and former state lawmaker Gail Phillips, along with business people and retirees. Honeman's donors include federal and state employees and business people.

Reach reporter Don Hunter at dhunter@adn.com or 257-4349.