Coachella mayoral candidates Hernandez, Delgado have raised over $75,000 each
Less than a month from the Nov. 8 election, the Coachella mayoral candidates have attracted tens of thousands of dollars each in campaign donations from companies, politicians and individuals — money that will let them drum up votes through advertising and other outreach.
With $87,050 in contributions as of Wednesday, Mayor Steven Hernandez is currently outraising his challenger, Councilmember Denise Delgado, who has raised $78,377.09. She has loaned her own campaign another $8,000.
The fundraising race is much more competitive than in 2020, when Hernandez brought in over $123,000, nearly seven times as much as challenger Lesly Figueroa's $18,000.
Delgado had raised the bulk of her campaign funds starting in July and through Sept. 24, when initial fundraising reports were filed.
But Hernandez has since surpassed her, including $29,100 in contributions he received just this week. Joey Acuña Jr., a trustee for the Coachella Valley Unified School District, was among Hernandez's most recent contributors with $2,000.
Hernandez has gotten additional support from others currently running in different political races: Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) has given $4,000 and Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez another $4,900. Hernandez works as chief of staff in Perez's office.
Delgado, who is a teacher with CVUSD, also has support from some local politicians, including Indio Mayor Waymond Fermon, who contributed $1,557.94, and Palm Springs Councilmember Christy Holstege, with $1,000. Holstege is in the run for the state Assembly seat for District 47.
Last month, Holstege had locked horns with Delgado's opponent, Hernandez, over a Facebook comment in which he referred to Holstege as “the real house wife of Palm Springs” and implied that she and her husband could possibly be involved in alleged corrupt real estate deals linked to College of the Desert development plans.
Officials in Coachella are not strangers to controversy stemming from social media, as anonymous accounts targeting city leaders with policy criticisms and unsupported personal attacks have divided the city's council in recent weeks.
Coachella Councilmember Neftali Galarza on Oct. 8 publicly saidhe believed it was fellow Councilmember Megan Beaman Jacinto behind two anonymous accounts, "Coachellx Coachelle" on Facebook and "Coachelanxs" on Instagram.
A day later, Beaman Jacinto responded on her own Facebook, "For the record: It's not me."
Several more similar accounts taking aim at Hernandez, Garcia, Perez and Galarza have sprung up in recent days. Delgado and Holstege are both followers of the Coachelanxs Instagram.
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Among Delgado’s other campaign contributors are local entities and individuals with interest in Coachella's development. This includes $1,100 from Armen Paronyan, the owner of the Canna Club, a new cannabis dispensary and fast food project in the city, and $4,900 from the Riverside Sheriffs' Association Public Education Fund.
The latter group — the union representing sheriff's deputies, district attorney investigators, deputy coroners and probation officers — has spent another $25,653.65 on digital ads and text message blasts supporting Delgado for mayor. That money was reported as an "independent expenditure," since it was not given to the campaign itself.
Delgado has received $9,800 in contributions from the owners of Chandi Group USA, an Indio-based development company that specializes in franchise operations. The firm got its start with a gas station in Coachella, on the corner of Harrison Street and Avenue 52.
Though many of Hernandez's contributors also have local ties, including $4,900 from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, he has received money from several law firms outside of the valley, with $250 from one in Santa Monica and $4,900 from another in Newport Beach.
With just weeks left of campaigning, each candidate has yet to spend the lion's share of what they've raised. As of Sept. 24, their filings show Delgado had spent $4,183.98 and Hernandez $3,785.30.
The campaign finance reports on the city website and can be viewed at TinyURL.com/CoachellaFunding.
A previous version of this article included an incorrect figure for a donation by Joey Acuña Jr. It was $2,000.
Eliana Perez covers the eastern Coachella Valley. Reach her at eliana.perez@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ElianaPress.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella mayor's race: Steven Hernandez, Denise Delgado raise thousands
