The race for two seats on San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors has attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations. The latest campaign contribution disclosures reveal the two incumbents are vastly outspending their two challengers.
County Supervisors Ron Roberts and Bill Horn were each unable to win their fifth terms on the board outright in the June Primary. But both are using their substantial campaign war chests to outspend their challengers leading up to November.
Roberts, who represents the central urban 4th district, has raised and spent $360,000 this year, more than three times as much as his challenger, Stephen Whitburn. In the last three months since the primary, Whitburn’s fundraising has picked up, but he has raised less than half as much as Roberts: $50,000 to Roberts’ $127,000.
The gap between Horn and Gronke’s campaign spending in the North County is even wider. Gronke has raised less than $20,000 since the June primary, when he won the right to challenge Horn this November.
Gronke lent himself almost $10,000 earlier this year. He’s spent about $40,000 so far in his bid to unseat the four term incumbent. Horn, meanwhile, has spent almost seven times that amount: $270,000 this year, in his bid to keep his seat.
The next date to check what campaigns have raised and spent is October 21. You can find out who is giving money to whom on the San Diego County Registrar’s new campaign finance disclosure website.
