Montgomery County executive candidates Nancy Floreen, Marc Elrich and Robin Ficker have released their final campaign finance reports before the Nov. 6 general election. The reports were due by 11:59 p.m. Friday.
Floreen, the independent candidate in the race, raised $468,383 between Aug. 22 and Oct. 21, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections campaign finance database. This amount, combined with previous contributions she has received from individuals since July, and $18,000 from political action committees brings her total contributions to $828,398.
Among the PACs contributing to Floreen’s campaign are those associated with the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, Maryland Business for a Responsive Government, Maryland Building Industry Association and Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. of Metro Washington.
Floreen entered the county executive race in August after shedding her Democratic Party affiliation and garnering the required 13,000 signatures needed to certify her candidacy with the Maryland State Board of Elections. Elrich was the winner of the six-way primary on June 26, and narrowly defeated Potomac businessman David Blair by 77 votes. He and Republican candidate Robin Ficker are using the county’s new public financing program, which allows candidates to receive up to $750,000 in matching funds from the county provided that candidates receive no more than $150 from each donor, and that they accept no money from PACs or corporations. Floreen was not eligible to receive public financing due to her late entry into the race.
Elrich’s campaign released two pre-general election reports for the month of October, with one showing that he raised $264,697 from Oct. 2 through 15. This included $189,729 in public funds that he received on Oct. 11. The second report shows that Elrich received an additional $15,626 from Oct. 16 through 21, which did not include any public funds. Elrich has raised a total of $707,796 since July 3, according to the first report filed after the primary, of which $467,070 has come from public financing.
Ficker has raised $254,710 since June 27, the day after the primary. Of that amount, $249,875 has come from public financing. But his two most recent reports only show him raising $11,625 from Aug. 22 to Oct. 1, and $10,145 from Oct. 2 through Oct. 21.
While Floreen has outraised Elrich, the Democratic nominee is ahead when it comes to cash on hand. As of Oct. 21, Elrich had $193,376 to Floreen’s $119,944. This is due to Floreen’s large amount of expenditures since Aug. 28, which included $100,600 in spending on consulting fees, $177,264 on digital and print media, as well as TV advertising. She also spent $115,889 on direct mail. Also noted in Floreen’s report is $18,000 in previous contributions that the campaign returned preemptively following a complaint filed with the state elections board by Gaithersburg resident Ken Myers that Floreen had illegally accepted more than $6,000 from entities with a common ownership.
Elrich has done the bulk of his spending in the month of October, spending $479,892 through Oct. 21, almost $300,000 of which was spent on media.
Ficker had the lowest amount of cash on hand of the three candidates as of Oct. 21, with $67,236. Among Ficker’s largest expenditures was online advertising, with him having spent more than $122,000 since July 13. He has also spent $84,607 on brochures and yard signs, and $17,000 on consulting fees in that period.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@bethesdda-remix.newspackstaging.com