Which city council candidates raised big bucks? Which one paid a big legal bill?

Campaign finance reports for city council candidates revealed some surprises, with political newcomers Shruti Rana and Joe Lee putting up big numbers, especially when compared to some veteran Bloomington politicians.

In each of the contested district-specific races, one candidate trounced the opposition in terms of dollars raised. Only the at-large race is seeing close fundraising competition. Unless indicated otherwise, the candidates' biggest expense was related to printing or mailing.

Ready to vote?: What you need to know before you vote in Bloomington's primary election

Bloomington residents will pick a new mayor this year and weigh in on the composition of the city council, which will undergo a significant reshuffling.

Why do Bloomington candidates have to file campaign finance reports?

Political candidates had to file pre-primary campaign finance reports on April 14. The most recent reports cover the period from Jan. 1 to April 7. The reports provide voters with information about how much money the candidates have raised, where the money comes from and how they’re spending it. According to statistics website fivethirtyeight.com, the candidates who raise the most money are very likely to win, at least in races for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Contributions the candidates have to report include cash, but also in-kind services, such as mailings, which a donor may handle for a candidate. Candidates have to provide details only about contributions and expenditures of at least $100. For smaller donations and expenditures, candidates just have to disclose how much they received or spent in total.

District 1: Joe Lee vs. Isabel Piedmont-Smith

Political newcomer Joe Lee has raised nearly $9,400 since the beginning of the year, easily distancing his opponent, current council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith, who raised less than $4,000.

Lee’s biggest donation, $2,500, came from Bloomington resident Betty Rose Nagle, who also is a big supporter of mayoral candidate Susan Sandberg. Lee also got $2,000 from Bloomington residents Jan Sorby and Jon Lawrence. None of Piedmont-Smith’s donations exceeded $300. Her biggest contribution, $300, came from the Democratic Women's Caucus.

Race for Bloomington mayor: Thomson raises $100K+, dwarfing Griffin Jr., Sandberg campaigns

While she has raised significantly less, Piedmont-Smith has spent more than Lee, as she has spent about half of her war chest, while Lee has held on to about $7,900, or 84% of what he has raised.

District 2: Kate Rosenbarger vs. Sue Sgambelluri

In District 2, incumbent Sue Sgambelluri raised nearly $10,500, more than twice as much as her opponent, Kate Rosenbarger, the current council member for District 1.

Sgambelluri has spent $3,000, or about 28% of her total, while Rosenbarger has spent $353, or 6.4% of her haul. In fact, Rosenbarger spent almost as little as Dave Rollo, the District 4 incumbent, who is unopposed.

Sgambelluri still had about $7,700 to spend, while Rosenbarger still had about $5,200 in her campaign fund.

District 3: Ron Smith vs. Hopi Stosberg vs. Conner Wright

In District 3, challenger Hopi H. Stosberg has raised more than both of her opponents combined. Stosberg reported she amassed about $4,800, while incumbent Ron Smith has collected $1,600 and Conner Wright about $1,200.

Stosberg’s biggest contribution was an in-kind donation from her husband, Mark Stosberg, who did $500 worth of work to develop and host her website. That tied with a $500 donation that Stosberg and her husband made to her campaign. Smith’s biggest contribution, $1,109, came from himself. Wright’s biggest contribution, $500, came from Maurice and Elizabeth Wright, of Naples, Florida.

Wright's biggest expense, $750, was for his campaign manager, Christopher Miller, of Bloomington.

All three candidates had less than $1,000 remaining at the end of the reporting period.

Republican Brett Heinisch, who is unopposed in the Republican primary, had raised nothing and spent nothing.

District 4: Dave Rollo

In District 4, incumbent Dave Rollo is running unopposed. So far, he also does not have a Republican opponent for the general election in the fall.

Rollo raised $350 in the first 14 weeks of the year, all coming from himself and Heather Reynolds, his wife and campaign treasurer.

Rollo spent a whopping $29.95 in the period. The amount is so low, in fact, that he did not have to disclose how he spent it. No other Democratic candidate in the primary spent less.

He had $320.05 remaining at the end of the period.

District 5: Shruti Rana vs. Jenny Stevens

District 5 features the most lopsided race, in terms of campaign finances, in this year’s primary. Shruti Rana has raised nearly $13,700, more than any other city council candidate, and more than three times as much as her opponent, Jenny Stevens.

Rana got her biggest contribution, $1,000, from the John Hamilton for Mayor political action committee. She also got $1,000 from a San Francisco-based attorney. Stevens got her biggest contribution, $600, from Bloomington resident Claire Robertson. Stevens also got a $600 in-kind contribution from Malcolm Daniels of Elsmere, Kentucky, for website design. Stevens took out an $800 loan from retired Bloomington resident Frank Stevens.

At the end of the reporting period, both candidates had spent about half of what they raised. Rana had about $6,600 left to spend. Stevens had about $2,200 remaining.

District 6: David Wolfe Bender

In District 6, Democrat David Wolfe Bender, has raised $6,210 and spent $2,572, even though he is unopposed.

The bulk of his expenditures, $2,000, went to law firm Allison Chopra Law, who is defending Bender in an election fraud investigation by the local election board.

Why Wolfe Bender needs a lawyer IU student accused of election fraud changes mind, will stay in council race

Bender’s biggest campaign contribution this year was a $2,500 loan from himself. The $2,000 bill to Chopra Law represented 78% of his campaign expenses between Jan. 1 and April 7.

At the end of the period, Bender had about $3,600 left in his campaign account.

At-large: Asare, Flaherty, Ruff, Sabo-Skelton, Schrodt, Shadday, Volan

The at-large race presents Bloomington voters with a plethora of choices. Voters across the city pick three candidates from a slate of seven Democrats. No Republican has filed.

The candidates, listed by who raised the most:

• Andy Ruff: $8,717 (spent: $1,637, remaining: $7,080) Biggest contributors: Jon Lawrence and Janice Sorby, of Bloomington, $1,000 combined.

• Isak Asare: $8,645 ($4,139, $4,506.). Biggest contributor: Isak Nti Asare for Congress, $2,550.

• Jonas Schrodt: $6,828 ($4,545, $2,343.) Biggest contributor: The Comedy Attic, Bloomington, $560.

• Matt Flaherty: $6,720 ($1,733, $6,932.) Flaherty started the year with nearly $2,000. Biggest contributor: Kurt Flaherty, of Springfield, Illinois, $1,500.

• Lois Sabo-Skelton: $4,375 ($3,659, $716.) Biggest contributor: Stephen J. Skelton, Van Nuys, California, $900.

• Stephen Volan: $4,071 ($2,151, $1,920.) Biggest contributors: Mary Friedman and Daniel Dabney, both of Bloomington, $500 each.

• Ryne Shadday: $520 ($151, $369.) Biggest expense: Stonewall Democrats of South Central Indiana, $104.30. Biggest contributors: Jeff Richardson, Joseph Fuschetto and Sue Wanzer, all of Bloomington, $100 each.

The reports of Joe Lee, Ron Smith and David Wolfe Bender contained mathematical errors, though that is not unusual in local campaign finance reports, which often are filled out by the candidates themselves or spouses and/or friends who act as campaign treasurers. Sabo-Skelton filed an amended form to itemize campaign expenditures, which she had not disclosed in her initial filing. Shadday filed his report April 17, though the reports were due at noon April 14.

About the Bloomington May primary

Three at-large council members are chosen by all voters, and six council members are chosen only by the voters in geographic districts.

The district boundaries were redrawn last year. The rough geographical areas for the districts are northwest, southwest, southeast, northeast, north central and south central. You can find out in which district you live by consulting the map at this link: tinyurl.com/5n8szcm7.

Given that the Democratic Party dominates Bloomington politics — only one Republican has filed for any of the nine offices — the eventual office holders will be chosen in most — if not all — cases in the primary election in May. Early voting began April 4, and primary election day is May 2. You can vote that day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What Bloomington Council candidates raised, spent before primary