Campaign finance reports reveal support, top donors

Jun. 26—Campaign finance reports from the Cleveland County Election Board for two county commissioners and their opponents reveal the candidates' top supporters and their top priorities for spending those dollars.

Incumbent for District 1 Rod Cleveland will face fellow Republican and former Norman Mayor Ron Henderson during the primary Tuesday. Ward 8 City Councilor Matt Peacock, an independent, will face the winner in the November general election.

District 3 incumbent Harold Haralson will face fellow Republican Rusty Grissom Tuesday as two Democrats face off in the primary, Mona "Mo" Vaughn and J.D. Krohmer.

Campaign finance reports were due to the election board Tuesday for the final reporting period between April 1 to June 13. The Transcript combed through all quarterly finance reports candidates filed. Candidates must report individual contributions above $50 and expenses above $200.

Money raised, money spent

District 1

Cleveland carried over a balance of $22,216.97, raised an additional $22,975, spent $23,845.04 and reported an ending balance of $21,659.43. His top expenses included consulting and print fees from HPPC Consulting for $20,000.

Henderson collected $3,650, loaned his campaign $5,700 and spent $8,942.69. He reported an ending balance of $407.31. His top expenses were for mailers to Mercury Press for $3,936.29 and to The Transcript for $2,369.00.

Peacock raised $3,795, reported $37.39 in expenses and an ending balance of $3,757.61. He did not appear to have expenses more than $200, which is the requirement for reporting expenditures.

District 3

Haralson carried over a $29,693.57 and raised an additional $40,275. Of the total $72,108.32 he raised, his reported expenditures totaled $45,771.62 with a final balance of $25,672.70. His top expenses included mailer services for $30,733.75 to INIT2 and $9,692.31 to CMA Strategies for printing.

Grissom carried over $10,801.50 from the January 1 to March 31 quarter. Of the $77,074 he reported, Grissom loaned $10,000 to his campaign. His expenditures totaled $65,449.77 for an ending balance of $11,624.53. His highest expense was marketing services to Cargill & Walker Consulting for $30,000.

Vaughn raised $1,875 and did not have expenditures to report. JD Krohmer raised $550 and also did not have expenditures to report.

Who donated?

District 1

Most of Cleveland's highest donors contributed $1,000. Phil Scaramucci, Hunter Miller, a real estate investor, local banker and county Excise Board member Chuck Thompson, auto dealers Mike Fowler and Don Griffin, Richard Thompson, investor Rick Nagel donated $1,000. Hall Smith of the restaurateur firm Hal Smith Group donated $1,000 as did Jim Bowers, attorney Rick Moore, Judy Floyd, Barbara Cleveland, and local physician Phillip Bird.

His top donors included Robby Cleveland for $2,900 and Vince Montgomery for $1,500. Political action committee, Realtors PAC donated $2,000.

Henderson's top donors included Troy Clawson and local restauranteur Robert Weiss of the Weiss Restaurant Group for $1,000 each. His $5,700 loan was the highest contribution to his campaign. Most of his contributions were from retired professionals for $200 or less. He reported no PAC donations.

Peacock reported three donors: local real estate developer James Adair for $2,500 — the highest of any candidate Adair supported — and veterinarian and former Ward 2 city councilor Joe Carter for $1,000.

Peacock, a local architect has abstained from a project Adair brought to the council because he performed work on it, the newspaper has reported.

Adair donated $100 to Henderson's campaign but a donation to Cleveland's did not appear on the report.

District 3

Haralson's top donor was an out of state PAC called NDA, from Colleyville, Texas, for $5,000. The newspaper found there was no entry for the committee in Oklahoma or Texas. The Transcript spoke to the Federal Election Commission, which also did not find any entry for the committee nor any listed to the address provided as 23 Mission Lane, Colleyville, Texas, 76034.

The committee shares an address with the National Dealer Alliance Group, a business serving auto dealerships. Attempts to reach the group were not successful.

Haralson said in a text message late Friday that the entry was "a scrivener's error" and an amended report would be filed. He did not reply when asked to state the correct name of the PAC.

The Norman Business PAC donated $2,500 and Oklahoma Realtors PAC donated $1,000.

Other top donors included Raymond Price and Mike Fowler for $2,500, David Floyd for $2,400, and Dr. M. Anwar for $2,100. Local business owner Bryan Stambeck, Daniel Reeves, home builder and Oklahoma Department of Transportation Commission Chairman, Gene McKown and Donna McKown and Dr. Angela Yaffe donated $1,500 each.

Donald Griffin donated $2,000 as did Tracey Spurgeon of Community Works.

Local attorneys Blake Virgin and Sean Rieger donated $1,000, as did Vernon McKown, local dentist William Blum, Barry Switzer, Linda Huggard, and Terry Kinnamon. Jim Adair and Steve Owens donated $1,000.

Haralson's employee, Deputy Commissioner John Roberts, performed an in-kind donation of $1,050 listed as "i360 Walk Services."

Grissom's highest contributor was Seth and Nina Wadley for $5,800 total. Sassan Moghadam, a local commercial real estate developer, donated $2,900. Tim and Cindy Grissom donated $3,000.

Dave Northcut and Steve Jones and auto dealer Don Griffin donated $2,500 each. Domer and Phil Scaramucci donated $2,000 each, as did Aaron and Michelle Tatum and Dana Purser.

James Geddes and David Armstrong each donated $1,499.50.

Those who contributed $1,000 include Patrick Grace, CEO of Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Adam Balkema, Gary Jones, Randy and Susan Kersey, and Diane Hibdon. Gary Roulet, CEO of Western Farmers, donated $1,000.

Of Krohmer's four contributors, none exceeded $200, donated by Jerry and Carol Evans. Vaughn's highest contributor was Caryn Vaughn, a University of Oklahoma professor, for $500.

Mindy Wood covers City Hall news and notable court cases for The Transcript. Reach her at mwood@normantranscript.com or 405-416-4420.