There’s less than a week before early voting begins in the November General Elections. In Buda, all six candidates vying for two city council places prepare for the home stretch.
So far though, only two candidates have taken part in political spending.
Of the six, Angela Kennedy and Wayne Proctor, who vie for Place 1, have reported their initial campaign spending.
The remaining four candidates, Wiley Hopkins and Amy Proctor for Place 2, Lorraine Gerami and Beverly Araki for Place 1, chose Modified Reporting.
In Modified Reporting, candidates opt to neither receive nor spend more than $500 during their campaign, excluding filing fees. It extends to all elections in an election cycle, including runoffs.
According to the Texas State Ethics Commission, any candidate who does not turn in a Modified Report – or files for Modified Reporting but exceeds the $500 limit – must file a Campaign/Office Holder (COH) Campaign Finance Pre-election Report. The deadline is 30 days prior to an election.
In the case of candidates filing for Modified Reporting, they must file a COH Pre-election Report no more than 48 hours after exceeding the limit.
Wayne Proctor, who named himself as his own treasurer, leads the political spending race. From Aug. 19 to Oct. 7, Proctor spent $986.11. He has not received any political contributions.
His largest expenditure was $290.53 paid to buildasign.com, an Austin area sign company. He used that money on Aug. 19 to buy 4-foot by 8-foot banners.
Of the remaining $695.58, Proctor spent $671.31 on materials to print political flyers. The report accounts 11 total material purchases over $50, with the largest amount of $150.63 spent on Sept. 11.
Also in the running for Place 1 is Kennedy, whose treasurer is Shannon Kennedy. From Aug. 27 to Oct. 7, she spent $768.76 in political expenses. In the same time, she received $1,530 in total political contributions.
Two contributions, totaling $1,200, exceed a $50 threshold requiring them to be itemized. According to the report, Kennedy’s largest donation came from Frank Rodriguez of Austin, who contributed $1,000 to her campaign.
In terms of expenditures, Kennedy made two of more than $50; she paid $435.27 to the Print Sign Company of Austin on Sept. 20.
The second was a $125 expenditure made to Brian Birzen of Austin on Sept. 20.
Early Voting begins on Oct. 21. The November General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
