In Lexington mayoral race, Gorton has large fundraising lead as field expands to four
Campaign finance reports released this week show incumbent Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton with a sizable fundraising lead over her challengers.
Gorton, who announced in August she was seeking a second term, has raised just shy of $100,000 with $97,502.64 raised as of Dec. 31, according to Kentucky Registry of Election Finance reports filed Tuesday.
She has also spent the most —$26,249.63. That leaves $71,253 in her campaign coffers. To date, the registered nurse and former vice mayor and councilwoman has received no political action committee contributions, according to campaign finance records.
Gorton started to raise money for her campaign in August, giving her a financial head start on her challengers. In her first filing, Gorton raised $26,301. This reporting cycle, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, she raised $69,327.64.
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman David Kloiber, who officially kicked off his campaign in early December, has raised $26,301.00, according to campaign finance records. Kloiber has only spent $1,282.48. He has $25,018.52. left to spend. He filed to start raising money with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance on Nov. 5.
Kloiber raised $13,300 from donors. He also gave $13,000 of his own money to his campaign, according to campaign finance records. Kloiber has also not received any money from political action committees.
William Weyman, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018, filed paperwork to raise money for the campaign in early December. He did not file any campaign finance reports with state officials for the current reporting period. Weyman did not raise any money during the 2018 mayoral election .
Adrian Wallace, the president of a development corporation and longtime member of the Lexington-Fayette NAACP, filed to run this week with the Fayette County Clerk’s office. He filed his intent to raise money with state campaign officials on Jan. 3, after the current reporting deadline.
Gorton raised $262,301.86 during her 2018 general election campaign and was outspent by opponent Ronnie Bastin, who raised nearly $400,000. Gorton won that race with 63 percent of the vote.
Gorton, who officially filed paperwork to run Wednesday in the Fayette County Clerk’s office, said she expects to raise more money in 2022 than she did in 2018.
“Our goal was $100,000 by Dec. 31 and we were just short of that,” Gorton said. “We have been very focused on (raising money) because people understand that campaigns can’t occur without financing to do the things that we need to do.”
Kloiber said his campaign is still in its early days.
“Having only launched the campaign in December, we are in the earliest stages of our fundraising efforts,” Kloiber said. “In the coming months we plan to run a first-rate campaign and look forward to the community’s continued support both financially and otherwise.”
Lexington’s mayoral races are nonpartisan. The top two vote getters in the May 17 primary move on to the November general election.
