Salt Lake mayoral candidate Ross Anderson has decided to abide by a voluntary campaign finance limit after all.
When he entered the race last fall, Anderson signed a contract to abide by a $375,000 contribution and spending limit. But when Jim Bradley and Stuart Reid earlier this month decided not to be bound by the limit, Anderson backed out, too, and candidate Dave Jones followed suit this week.Such reversals are allowed under the city's new campaign finance limit ordinance.
Now Anderson has changed his mind again.
"(Campaign finance reform) has been a major issue for me for years," he said. "Somebody's got to take a first step, and even if I'll be at a financial disadvantage, I'm going to do it. It just seems to me absolutely the right thing to do."
While Anderson may gain some political mileage from sticking to the limit, his opponents immediately pointed to his indecision on the matter.
"Is that story not going to end, ever?" asked Bradley.
"There have been more Rocky flip-flops on this than there have been Rocky movies," Jones said. Many of the candidates suggested the issue might be irrelevant anyway, as they doubt the spending will go much more than $375,000 for each candidate. With other candidates now joining the field, there's simply less money to go around.
Three lesser-known candidates have filed campaign committees, and City Council Chairman Keith Christensen and former mayoral candidate Mike Zuhl, both of whom said earlier they would not run, are considering entering the race.