The Roanoke Times

Roanoke mayoral candidate David Bowers spent the most money of the 10 candidates for mayor and city council through the end of March, while incumbent Mayor Nelson Harris and council candidate Court Rosen ended the period with the most left to spend.

Harris, Rosen and Councilman Sherman Lea -- all nominees of the Roanoke Democrats -- received large cash infusions from the Business Leadership Fund, a political action committee administered by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. Rosen received $9,000 from the group, while Harris and Lea each received $2,000.

"I've been hoarding cash," Rosen said. "I will likely use it on mail pieces and continuing to put yard signs out. If needed, I'll get more yard signs. Money permitting, I'll likely do some television ads."

The fourth Democratic candidate, Anita Price, a schoolteacher with close ties to the Roanoke Education Association, received neither an endorsement nor a contribution from the PAC.

All candidates for the May 6 election were required to file campaign reports covering the period from Jan. 1 to March 31. The next reports are due April 28.

Bowers' money was provided largely by a $15,000 loan to himself, compared with a total of $3,100 in contributions from others. He used the money to finance yard signs, billboards and advertisements on city buses. Bowers spent more than twice as much as Rosen, the next closest candidate in terms of expenditures.

Bowers said he used the loan in an attempt to jump-start his campaign, and he thinks it has worked.

"My calculations are I raised more in the last two weeks than I did in the [previous] 30 days," Bowers said.

Harris, meanwhile, raised $13,685. His two largest contributors were the Business Leadership Fund and Warner Dalhouse. He seems to have so far been fairly frugal in his spending, with his biggest investment the $500 filing fee for the Roanoke City Democratic Committee.

Independent mayoral candidates Anita Powell and George Sgouros raised less money. Powell recorded one cash contribution of $50, while Sgouros had none. Sgouros started with a zero balance and spent nearly $300, yet recorded his ending balance as zero.

Among council candidates, Rosen raised the most money during the filing period. In addition to the PAC money, he received contributions from city businessmen Bittle Porterfield, Ed Hall, Scott Graeff, Heywood Fralin and Lee Hartman. All told, Rosen raised more than $23,000. He spent $3,000 on political consulting and an additional $1,668 on campaign signs.

Dale Edmonston, an independent, declared that he had neither raised nor spent any money on his campaign. He has passed out campaign brochures at campaign forums, but they're not accounted for in his filings.

Valerie Garner, an independent, raised $3,835, including a $1,316 loan from herself. That money went largely to yard signs and business cards. She's also received money from the Countryside Neighborhood Alliance, of which she is chairwoman, and from Citizens for Sensible Decisions, which originally formed to fight the demolition of Victory Stadium.

Besides the PAC money, Lea raised most of his more than $10,000 from his family, which contributed $6,770 to his campaign. He spent more than $3,000 on yard signs and $1,200 for campaign staff.

Price raised $615 from nine contributions of less than $100 each. She said she's not worried about her relatively small funds compared to her Democratic ticket-mates: "I'm a teacher. I know how to make do with the best sources I've got."

Incumbent Councilman Brian Wishneff, who is running as an independent for re-election, raised $54 during the filing period. But he entered the race late and has actively discouraged large contributions. His campaign signs are recycled versions from his 2004 council ticket with Lea -- only with Lea's name painted over.

Also filing a campaign finance report Tuesday was the Business Leadership Fund. Established in 1998 to represent business interests, it played a heavy role in the 2006 Roanoke municipal elections, backing the "For the City" ticket of Alfred Dowe, Gwen Mason and David Trinkle. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the PAC donated $21,666 to each of those candidates, who swept the election.

The group raised only $2,950 during this period, with $1,000 of that coming from Explore Park developer Larry Vander Maten. It paid out $17,496, with $15,500 of that going to city council candidates on the ballot in Roanoke and Salem.

On the Net: vpap.org