Contributions to city candidates vary

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The majority of area political candidates claimed no campaign contributions prior to the June 9 election, with the highest claimed contribution coming in at $3,000.

The North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office requires any campaign contribution made from Jan. 1 through 20 days prior to the election be claimed.

Most local and county candidates claimed no contributions, including Bernie Marsh, Rod Landblom, Robert Keogh, Scott Kovash, Kelly Cooper, Raymond Becker, Clarence Tuhy, Ken Zander, Kay Haag, Loren Myran, RaeDeen Weinberger and Larry Bares.

Two of the four Dickinson City Commission candidates had reportable contributions.

Klayton Oltmanns, one of two newly elected City Commission members, received $250 from Joe Frenzel, a former City Commission member who did not rerun.

Shirley Dukart, a former City Commission member who ran for re-election, received $3,000 from the Realtors Political Action Committee of North Dakota.

Mike Lefor, president of the Dickinson Parks & Recreation Board of Park Commissioners, reported $908 paid from Mike Lefor and $200 paid from Todd Lefor of Fargo.

Lee Ann Oliver, election specialist for the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office, said while the state does not see campaign contribution reports for local and county elections, a $3,000 contribution is high in comparison to contributions made for state candidates, such as legislators.

Oliver said it is common for legislators to also have no reportable contributions.

This year’s reportable contributions were nothing out of the ordinary.

Rita Binstock, assistant to the city administrator, said this year’s contributions were similar to the 2008 election.

“There’s very few people who get contributions besides their own,” Binstock said.

Despite having no claimable campaign contributions, some candidates spent money out of their own pocket.

Dukart said she spent about $5,000 of her own money this election.

“In the four times I’ve campaigned, it’s been anywhere from $8,000 to $13,000,” Dukart said. “It’s expensive.”

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