2 candidates loan their campaigns $90,000 or more in primary race for Erie County judge

Editor's note: After this article was published, the campaign of judicial candidate Leigh Ann Orton filed an amended campaign finance report on May 13. The amended report lists more donors who contributed to Orton's campaign. The campaign said a clerical error led the initial filing to include an incomplete list of donors.

The total amount of donations changed slightly in the amended filing but the amount that Orton loaned to her campaign did not.

This story has been edited to reflect the new information on the amended filing. This story also includes a comment from Orton, who did not comment for the original article.

Go to the state's elections website to access campaign finance records.

Two of the three candidates for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge are taking a similar approach to funding their campaigns leading up to the municipal primary on Tuesday.

The two candidates, Eric Mikovch and Leigh Ann Orton, each have spent $90,000 or more of their own money in loans to their campaigns.

Going to the polls: Erie County voters' guide to the races, candidates and issues in the 2023 primary

The third candidate, Peter Sala, is taking a different approach. He has spent none of his own money and has counted on smaller donations to fund much of his campaign.

Sala, Orton and Mikovch are lawyers seeking nominations for the one open seat on the nine-member local bench.

The nominee who wins in the Nov. 7 municipal election will get a 10-year term for a career-capping job that pays $212,495 a year — an amount set by state law — and has a mandatory retirement age of 75. The seat opened with the retirement of Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich a year ago,

The candidates' fundraising strategies became clear with the filing of pre-primary campaign reports by the May 5 deadline. The records show:

Eric Mikovch

• Mikovch's campaign committee raised the most money among the three candidates between the beginning of the year and May 1. Mikovch also contributed the most to his campaign.

• The campaign raised $167,857.

• Mikovch loaned the campaign $99,000. He also personally paid for $11,446 in campaign expenses. His combined contributions were $110,446.

• The campaign spent $102,641, leaving a balance of $62,216 to use before the primary.

• Among the major expenditures: $27,954 for two mailings, $13,504 for TV advertising and $11,805 for billboards.

Leigh Ann Orton

• Orton's campaign committee raised $109,360 between the beginning of the year and May 1.

• Orton and her husband and law partner, Christopher Orton, loaned the campaign a total of $90,000.

• The campaign spent $86,180, leaving a balance of $23,180 to use before the primary.

• Among the major expenditures: $51,520 for TV advertising, $19,259 for a direct mailing and $5,960 for campaign signs.

Peter Sala

• Sala's campaign committee raised $52,074 between the beginning of the year and May 1.

• Sala loaned no funds to the campaign.

• The campaign spent $35,480, leaving a balance of $17,142 to use before the primary.

• Among the major expenditures: $18,791 in TV advertising, $7,412 for campaign signs and related advertising and $1,623 for other advertising.

Mikovch says he is 'investing in and betting on myself'

The three candidates are all certain to have raised more money since the May 5 filing deadline for the pre-primary campaign finance report. And once their campaigns are over, the candidates can hold fundraisers to try to have their campaigns pay off their personal loans.

The post-primary campaign finance report is due June 15.

Mikovch, 54, a resident of Elk Creek Township and a partner in the Quinn Law Firm in Erie, is a registered Republican who cross-filed on the Republican and Democratic ballots for the primary. He said he expected to put a large amount of money into his campaign.

"I am investing in and betting on myself, and as a first-time candidate, I needed to get my name out across all of Erie County from the Ohio line to the New York State line, from Crawford County to Lake Erie on as many platforms as possible," Mikovch said. "I wouldn't ask anyone for something that I wouldn't do twice as much myself, be that working hard door-to-door or financing a campaign."

After Mikovch, the next largest donor to his campaign was his father, Jim Mikovch, a retired banker who lives in Cranesville. He contributed $10,000, according to the finance records.

Eric Mikovch received other donations from fellow lawyers and community members. His law firm's political action committee, QPAC, gave his campaign $2,500. The only other PAC that contributed to his campaign was LPAC, the PAC for the Knox Law Firm in Erie. It gave $150.

Overall, Mikovch's campaign received $75 in donations of less than $50, $8,280 in donations in amounts between $50.01 and $250 and $148,056 in donations in amounts larger than $250.

Orton says she has knocked on 5,000 doors

Orton, 51, of North East Township, is a partner with her husband in the Orton & Orton law firm in North East. Like Mikovch, she is a first-time judicial candidate and registered Republican who cross-filed on the Republican and Democratic ballots. And, like the other two candidates, she has been campaigning door-to-door.

Orton's campaign got contributions from a variety of donors, including lawyers, business owners and developers. The largest individual donation was for $5,000, from Timothy P. Loutzenhiser, of Millcreek Township. The campaign filing lists his occupation as sales with Car Keys Express, of Louisville, Kentucky.

Other contributors include Erie developer Gregory J. Rubino, who gave $500; William D. Elkin, of the Elkin Funeral Home in North East, who gave $400; and Tom Hagen, the chairman of the board of Erie Insurance Group and its retired CEO. He gave $1,000.

Overall, Orton's campaign received no donations in amounts less than $50 or between $50.01 and $250. It received $4,850 in donations in amounts between $50.01 and $250 and $104,520 in amounts larger than $250, including the loans the Ortons made to the campaign. The campaign received a donation from one PAC — $200 from the Knox Law Firm's LPAC.

"We have been overwhelmed with the support from voters across the county," Orton said in a statement. "Our team has knocked on over 5,000 doors and with smiles, over half have said they already voted for me with their mail-in ballots. Our campaign brings balance to Erie County. Many are surprised to learn our population is over 51% female and only 22% of that is represented in our judges."

Of the eight elected judges seated on the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, two are women.

Sala says he's grateful for smaller donations

Sala, 54, is the longtime solicitor for the Erie County Sheriff's Office and a sole practitioner in the city of Erie, where he lives. He is a registered Democrat who cross-filed on the Democratic and Republican ballots.

Sala ran for Erie County judge in 2019, when he lost the race for two open seats. Five candidates for judge were on the primary ballot in 2019 — the last time Erie County elected a Common Pleas Court judge.

Leading up to the primary in 2019, Sala's campaign raised $28,261 — a little more than half of the $52,074 his campaign raised during the same pre-primary period this year. The 2023 amount includes $549 that Sala brought forward from his previous campaign, according to campaign finance records.

Overall, for this primary, Sala's campaign received $4,581 in donations of less than $50, $17,593 in donations in amounts between $50.01 and $250 and $29,400 in donations of more than $250. He received a donation from one PAC — $500 from the PAC for the Steamfitters Local 449.

Sala's campaign received several contributions for $2,500 or $1,000 among the largest donors, including lawyers, and many for $500 or $300 among donors that also included lawyers. The campaign received donations of $2,500 each from Sala's cousins, Anthony Sala and Michael Sala, who are ophthalmologists at the Erie Eye Clinic.

Sala said he is glad smaller contributions made up a large part of his campaign.

"It shows that ordinary people are supporting the campaign," Sala said. "That's what matters to me."

Sala said he is also satisfied that he has not had to spend his own money on his campaign. But he said that situation might change if he wins in the primary and still faces a challenger in the Nov. 7 election. Any of the three candidates would be guaranteed a win in November if they were to secure both the Democratic and Republican nominations on Tuesday.

Depending on what happens on Tuesday, spending his own money on his campaign "might have to be considered in the future," Sala said.

How does fundraising compare with last judicial race?

Lucrative fundraising was no guarantee of a win in the Erie County judicial race in 2019, when five candidates ran for two seats.

Leading up to the primary in May 2019, candidate David Ridge's campaign raised the most of all the candidates — $161,700, including $17,000 that he loaned his campaign. Candidate Ed Smith's campaign raised the next-highest amount — $101,837, including $42,000 he loaned his campaign.

The campaigns of the three other candidates, including Sala, all fell within a thousand dollars of one another. The candidate whose campaign raised the third-highest amount was Erin Connelly Marucci, the chief deputy district attorney for Erie County. Leading up to the primary, her campaign raised $31,784, including a $2,200 loan from her.

Ridge, a Democrat, locked up dual nominations in the 2019 primary. Connelly Marucci, a Democrat, won the Democratic nomination. Smith, a Republican, won the Republican nomination.

Ridge and Connelly Marucci won in November.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 2 Erie County judge candidates loan their campaigns $90,000 or more