With 10 days until the election, the political action committee formed by consultant Michael Beychok to oppose the city of St. George incorporation effort has raised a little more than $53,000, according to a campaign finance report filed today with the Louisiana Ethics Commission.
The report filed by the No City of St. George PAC, which was created just Sept. 16, shows contributions total $53,250, while expenditures are $25,196 and cash on hand is $28,054.
Much of the money raised in the past two weeks has come from the same business leaders, who, last week, gathered at the corporate headquarters of H&E Equipment Services to speak out collectively against the effort.
H&E Chairman John Engquist has given $10,000 to the effort, as have Lamar Advertising Chairman and CEO Kevin Reilly and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s PAC, FUTUREPAC. Bernhard Capital Partners has also contributed $10,000, though its contribution was made after the most recent report was compiled.
Other major donors to the PAC were: Jim Bailey, $5,000; Ross Reilly, $5,000; James Usher, $3,000; M.A. Roth, $2,500; and Hans Sternberg, $2,500.
Nearly half of the money raised so far—$11,500—has gone to Beychok’s firm, Ourso Beychok, to do direct mail. Another $7,500 has been spent with Lamar on billboard advertising.
A separate anti-incorporation PAC created by businessman Richard Lipsey, Louisiana First Republicans PAC, did not raise any money during the three-week reporting period in September but shows nearly $64,000 in cash on hand from funds previously raised.
Lipsey’s PAC spent some $8,000 in September with Baton Rouge Printing on direct mail pieces sent to voters in the footprint of the proposed city.
A PAC supporting the incorporation effort—St. George PAC, established in mid-August—has raised more than $70,000 so far, according to the campaign finance report it filed in September. Performance Contractor CEO Art Farve is its biggest supporter, having contributed $50,000. The PAC also counted nearly $20,000 in in-kind contributions from Our Promising Future, LLC. Those funds were spent on mailing and postage.
Last week, the campaign also reported a $25,000 in-kind contribution from Daniel Heard of Houston, Texas. The report does not indicate how the contribution was spent.
Neither side has taken its campaign to the local airwaves yet, though both have bombarded residents of the area with direct mail pieces.
The election is Oct. 12.
(Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include the $10,000 contribution by Bernhard Capital Partners, which was made after the campaign finance report was filed.)
