Dacey, Young outspend rest of County Council field combined

Nov. 3—Since before the July primary election, two Frederick County Council candidates have spent more money than the 12 others in the races combined, according to recent campaign filings.

The campaign filings, which the Maryland State Board of Elections released on Friday night, were a final look at candidates' finances before General Election Day on Tuesday.

County Councilman Phil Dacey, R, and Democratic candidate Brad Young, who is the president of the Frederick County Board of Education, spent a combined $110,000 between July 4 and Oct. 23.

The other candidates running for the seven County Council seats spent a combined $107,000 during the same period.

Dacey and Young are two of the four candidates running for the council's two at-large seats. Renee Knapp, a Democrat and an advocate and caregiver for her adult son with autism, and Republican Tony Chmelik, a general contractor and former council member, are also running.

The most recent campaign filings covered candidate's transactions between Aug. 24 and Oct. 23. Those were the second reports that candidates have filed since the July 19 primary election.

Dacey, who spent $66,000 between July 4 and Oct. 23, has put the bulk of his spending toward campaign mailers.

Young concentrated the $44,000 he spent during that period on campaign advertising, too, including large chunks of money for billboards/outdoor advertising and campaign mailers.

Since July, Dacey and Young have also raised the most money among the 14 council candidates.

From July 4 to Oct. 23, Dacey had received $31,000 and Young had taken in $25,000.

Only one other candidate, John Distel, the Republican nominee for the District 1 seat, raised more than $20,000 between July 4 and Oct. 23. District 1 covers the southwestern part of the county, including Middletown, Burkittsville, Rosemont, Brunswick and land west of Md. 355, including parts of Urbana and the Sugarloaf Mountain area.

Distel, a Montgomery County police sergeant, has raised $25,000 since the primary election, more than 90% of which he received in the eight-and-a-half-week period that the latest campaign finance filings cover.

Distel, who was in the middle of the pack in terms of campaign fundraising until the State Board of Elections released the latest filings, raised more than any other council candidate between Aug. 24 and Oct. 23.

He raised $23,000 over eight and a half weeks, after bringing in $13,000 between January 2021 and Aug. 23, 2022 — a 20-month span.

Below are the campaign finance numbers between Primary Election Day and Oct. 23 for all 14 County Council candidates:

At-large (voters elect two candidates)

— Tony Chmelik (R) raised $14,000, spent $5,400, has $10,000 remaining

— Councilman Phil Dacey (R) raised $30,000, spent $66,000, has $45,000 remaining

— Renee Knapp (D) raised $9,300, spent $14,000, has $2,200 remaining

— Brad Young (D) raised $25,000, spent $44,000, has $9,700 remaining

District 1

— John Distel (R) raised $25,000, spent $6,700 has $21,000 remaining

— Councilman Jerry Donald (D) raised $9,800, spent $22,000, has $11,000 remaining

District 2

— Councilman Steve McKay (R) raised $8,100, spent $15,000, has $1,200 remaining

— Lisa Jarosinski (D) raised $16,000, spent $9,200, has $7,900 remaining

District 3

— Shelley Aloi (R) raised $4,900, spent $2,700, has $2,800 remaining

— Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer (D) raised $7,700, spent $9,200, has $15,000 remaining

District 4

— John Fer (R) did not file a campaign finance report before the Oct. 28 deadline. As of Wednesday, Fer had not filed a report.

The State Board of Elections has fined Fer $100, so far, for failing to file a report for the latest campaign finance period.

In an interview with the News-Post on Wednesday, Fer said that he expects his campaign treasurer, Daniel Smatlak, will have their latest finance report submitted to the State Board of Elections by the close of business on Friday.

The State Board of Elections fines candidates $20 for each of the first seven days their report is late and $35 for each of the following seven. After that, the fee jumps to $50 per day until a candidate's outstanding balance reaches the maximum amount of $1,000.

A candidate who wins an election cannot take office if they have an outstanding finance report or a late fee, according to Maryland's campaign finance law.

— Kavonte Duckett (D) raised $10,000, spent $10,000, has $8,500 remaining

District 5

— Mason Carter (R) raised $14,000, spent $8,000, has $12,000 remaining

— Julianna Lufkin (D) raised $9,600, spent $3,500, has $9,300 remaining

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan