Council President Blaine Griffin’s political action committee has spent $115,000 this summer and fall helping allies try to retain their seats.
The Council Leadership Fund filed its latest campaign finance disclosure Thursday. The filing covers spending from June to mid-October.
Six incumbents on City Council received $3,000 checks from the PAC to their campaign committees: Richard Starr, Anthony Hairston, Danny Kelly, Stephanie Howse-Jones, Kris Harsh and Kevin Conwell.
Three donors made contributions to the leadership fund at or near $16,615, the legal maximum. They are philanthropist Albert Ratner, K&D Group CEO Doug Price and Jason Lucarelli, the CEO of staffing company Minute Men, who gave $16,500.
The PAC also received donations from building trades unions, the Cleveland firefighters, U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s PAC and others.
Griffin’s leadership fund bought a slew of billboards backing his favored candidates. The bill from Lamar Advertising came out to just more than $15,000, plus another $3,500 to a design firm, the filing shows.
The PAC also spent money on staff, supplies, consulting, community engagement, printing and other costs. It has just shy of $230,000 on hand, plenty to spend in the final stretch of the race.
A rival PAC called A Better Cleveland for All spent far less on candidates running against Griffin’s picks. That committee reported almost $6,000 in expenditures between July and mid-October.
A Better Cleveland for All gave $2,800 each to Rebecca Maurer and Tanmay Shah. Maurer, a sitting council member, is running against fellow incumbent Richard Starr in Ward 5. Shah is running against incumbent Danny Kelly in Ward 12.
Kelley has support not just from Griffin but from Mayor Justin Bibb, who has paid for billboards backing the council member.
