Money matters fail to thwart Skordas campaign
After all, Skordas said, Shurtleff has been able to fund raise for almost four years, so it makes sense that he would have much more money. Additionally, the attorney general has tapped some large corporate and political donors, while Skordas has relied heavily on small donations from a large group of individuals.
"I think it's pretty close to where we want to be," Skordas said. "We're about on target for this early in the campaign, and we haven't spent much, either."
According to campaign finance disclosures filed this past week, Skordas has significant ground to make up in the money game. So far, the Democratic challenger has raised $111,985, although he does have $59,410 of that money still in his campaign fund. The Republican Shurtleff, however, has raised $409,970, and has $107,310 still at his disposal.
Ally Isom, Shurtleff's campaign manager, said that they have not set any specific amount they hope to raise, although they assumed that they would need at least as much as in 2000, when they amassed more than $600,000 in donations. There are a number of variables that could impact their financial needs, such as the amount of radio, print and television advertising they would use.
Along with the actual money, the funding sources for the two candidates are also quite different. Shurtleff's report has more than a dozen donors which exceed $5,000, compared to three for Skordas, all of which were in-kind donations.
The biggest corporate donor for Shurtleff was Pre-Paid Legal Services. The Oklahoma-based company, which provides legal advice for people who do not need to retain a full-time attorney, gave a total of $50,000. Other big corporate donors include Reagan Outdoor Advertising ($10,000), 1-800-CONTACTS ($10,000) and Envirocare of Utah ($3,200, plus $5,000 in personal donations from owner Khosrow Semnani). He also received large donations from political action groups, including $100,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee, $10,000 from the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund and $8,000 from the Utah Association of Realtors.
Isom said that in addition to campaign fund-raising, Shurtleff also donated money from his campaign fund to various non-profits that help combat Internet fraud and child pornography because of the restrictions on his elected office expenditures. In a "tough year for fund-raising," however, the big donations are necessary.
"It's really hard to get to $600,000 with small donations," she said.
On the flip side, Skordas has lived on small donations, many of them from personal lawyer friends, he said. Crown Burger was the largest donor, with $6,100 in cash and in-kind donations, while the $5,000 in rent for his campaign headquarters was also donated by Vasilios Priskos. Otherwise, Skordas had almost 500 donors, many of which donated less than $1,000.
"It's a lot of people giving me 20 dollars," he said, noting that he does plan to start pursuing larger donors. "It's good community support, and I'm excited."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com
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