By Sarah Marshall
When the new charter was being debated, one fear was that running for office would cost a lot of money and candidates would be beholden to wealthy donors. In fact, most of the candidates for Town Council three years ago listed expenses at this point in the campaign of under $2,000.
Today we summarize the 8th-day-preceding reports of candidates in contested Town Council races. Note that donors who give no more than $50 in 2021 do not need to be individually identified. Multiple contributions from an individual are combined.
At-large Town Council candidates (in alphabetical order)
Vira Douangmany Cage
- Ending balance from previous report: $0
- Total receipts: $8,186
- # of donors: 69
- # of donations $50 or less: 37
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 17
- # donations more than $100-$500: 14
- # donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 1
- # of $1,000 donations: 1
- Expenses: $2,042.86
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $0
Robert GREENEY
No receipts, expenses, liabilities, or cash on hand reported.
Mandi Jo HANNEKE
- Ending balance from previous report: $157.38
- Total receipts: $1,580
- # of donors: unknown. 7 are itemized but there must be at least 15 more
- # of donations $50 or less: at least 15
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 6
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 1
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- # of $1,000 donations: 0
- Expenses: $1,623.45
- In-kind contributions: $338.80
- Liabilities: $0
Vincent O’CONNOR
No receipts, expenses, liabilities, or cash on hand reported.
Andrew STEINBERG
- Ending balance from previous report: $253.78
- Total receipts: $1,985.11
- # of donors: unknown. 7 are itemized but there must be at least 9 more
- # of donations $50 or less: at least 9
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 4
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 2
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 1 (candidate loan)
- Expenses: $1,902.21
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $2,343.11
Ellisha WALKER
- Ending balance from previous report: $0
- Total receipts: $4,030
- # of donors: unknown. 20 are itemized but there must be at least 19 more
- # of donations $50 or less: at least 19
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 15
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 5
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- Expenses: $1,490.81
- In-kind contributions: $178
- Liabilities: $0
District 3
Dorothy PAM
- Ending balance from previous report: $46.79
- Total receipts: $2,281
- # of donors: unknown. 7 are itemized but there must be at least 2 more
- # of donations $50 or less: at least 2
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 3
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 3
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 1 (candidate loan)
- Expenses: $1,775
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $0
George RYAN
- Ending balance from previous report: $0
- Total receipts: $1,615
- # of donors: 19
- # of donations $50 or less: 11
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 3
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 5
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- Expenses: $1,314.53
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $0
Jennifer TAUB
- Ending balance from previous report: $0
- Total receipts: $1,907
- # of donors: 23
- # of donations $50 or less: 13
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 7
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 3
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- Expenses: $1,544.34
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $0
District 4
Anika LOPES
- Ending balance from previous report: $0
- Total receipts: $830
- # of donors: 10
- # of donations $50 or less: 7
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 3
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 0
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- Expenses: $52.18
- In-kind contributions: $810.86
- Liabilities: $0
Pam ROONEY
- Ending balance from previous report: $0
- Total receipts: $3,274.20
- # of donors: at least 34
- # of donations $50 or less: at least 8
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 19
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 7
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- Expenses: $2,461.06
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $250
Evan ROSS
- Ending balance from previous report: $585.85
- Total receipts: $1,408.95
- # of donors: unknown. 8 are itemized but there must be at least 16 more
- # of donations $50 or less: at least 16
- # of donations more than $50-$100: 8
- # of donations more than $100-$500: 0
- # of donations more than $500-$1,000 (legal maximum): 0
- Expenses: $793.36
- In-kind contributions: $0
- Liabilities: $858.40
You can view campaign finance reports at https://www.amherstma.gov/1327/Campaign-Finance-Reports
All candidates, campaigns, and committees will need to file end-of-year or dissolution reports over the coming months.
THE AMHERST CURRENT 
It will be interesting and telling to see how the electorate responds to Ms. Cage, who has raised more $ than any other candidate. On the one hand, she has received more unique donations than any other candidate, as well as the largest donations, which speaks to her claim that she is speaking for a large constituency. On the other hand, she has used tactics that many find controversial and distasteful to raise funds and stir up interest/controversy in and around her candidacy. I will not be voting for Ms. Cage because she is against the Jones Library project and I don’t find her reasons against the project to be credible or worthy of a town counselor. Nonetheless, she has tapped into something real, and her fundamental message, that a large part of our community feel unsafe and unheard and unrepresented, is one of the defining elements of the day. I will say that I think most of the current slate of candidates are equally committed to the social justice issues that Ms. Cage espoused, but do not seek to be as antagonistic in their rhetoric.
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It is also interesting that almost 1/3 of contributions to Ms. Cage ($2,530) have come from donors whose addresses are not in Amherst.
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