SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City mayoral race's latest campaign finance reports show incumbent Mayor Ralph Becker has collected more than half a million dollars and outraised his top challenger, Jackie Biskupski, over the past month.
Tuesday's reports differ from July 1 fundraising numbers, which showed Biskupski had raised more than Becker. During that reporting period, she had collected nearly $200,000 while Becker had raised $176,000.
But last month, Becker bounced back, surpassing Biskupski in donations by about $16,000. The mayor brought in nearly $83,000 while Biskupski raised just over $66,000.
Overall, Becker has taken in $502,259 while Biskupski has raised $290,510. The other candidates report substantially fewer donations, with Dave Robinson at $22,311, Luke Garrott at $21,971 and George Chapman at $11,711.
The candidates' fundraising numbers tell a story that is consistent with recent polls indicating Becker and Biskupski will likely be the two candidates to advance through next week's primary election, said University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank.
"Both of these candidates are obviously very well-funded," Burbank said. "With Mayor Becker, that's not a big surprise as the incumbent mayor. … But for (Biskupski), she's done remarkably well. That's always a very tough thing to do as a challenger to be able to raise a big sum of money."
Burbank and other political scientists have previously speculated that Biskupski may have outraised Becker and is gaining votes in polls partly because of criticism Becker received for forcing former Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank to resign in the wake of a pending sexual harassment lawsuit by three female police officers.
Matt Lyon, spokesman for Becker's campaign, said the mayor's campaign has "picked up a lot of steam" in the past few weeks and the campaign finance reports reflect that traction.
"We're looking forward to getting to the primary, talking about the future of the city and earning people's votes," Lyon said.
Biskupski said running against an "entrenched incumbent" is a challenge, but she's encouraged to see how close her campaign has come to Becker's fundraising this year.
“I am especially honored by the large number of small donors I have in this race," Biskupski said. "We have nearly double the individual donors as the mayor and over twice as many donors under $100. … My campaign is more energized than ever, and I am looking forward to succeeding in the primary and focusing my efforts on winning the general election in November.”
According to Lyon, Becker's campaign has had 785 contributions from 572 donors.
Other competition
Chapman and Robinson both outraised City Council Chairman Luke Garrott last month by collecting roughly $9,000 and $7,000 respectively. Garrott, who took in just over $4,000, has been limiting his campaign donations to $1,000.
Matthew Burbank said it's surprising that Robinson has now surpassed Garrott in fundraising, considering Garrott, who has sat on the City Council for years, is likely more recognizable to voters.
Robinson said he thinks he has "a great shot" at getting through the primaries.
"Salt Lake City residents like our message and what we stand for," Robinson said of his campaign. "The debates have been great. Many people have contacted us over the last couple of weeks wanting to contribute money to our campaign."
But Garrott said he, too, is confident that he will advance through the primary election, and he even criticized Robinson for accepting large donations from only three different companies, with each donation nearing or reaching the city's legal campaign contribution cap of $7,500.
"(Robinson) raising thousands of dollars from just a couple of people is not a badge of honor," Garrott said.
He believes he'll gain more voters by accepting only small donations from multiple people. "I feel good about how we're reaching people though non-traditional means," Garrott said.
As for Chapman, he said he will "continue to fight no matter what."
Independent contributions
Tuesday's financial disclosures also showed how much Utahns for Independent Government — the political action committee that funded billboards for all candidates except Becker — has spent on contributions.
The PAC is led by the owners of Reagan Outdoor Advertising, a billboard company that has had a long history of conflict with Becker.
According to the reports, the PAC raised nearly $125,000 and has spent almost $114,000. Reagan Outdoor Advertising donated $105,000 while YESCO, another billboard company, contributed $16,000.
As long as PACs don't make direct donations or coordinate with candidates, they're not subject to Salt Lake City’s mayoral campaign contribution limits of $7,500.
Becker has criticized the PAC's billboards, deeming them a way to avoid the city's campaign contribution laws and to fuel money-driven politics.
“The spending by Reagan Billboards is unprecedented — a single corporate interest spending over $100,000 to primarily support and back a single candidate in a municipal election," Lyon said. "We encourage voters to say 'no' to corporations attempting to buy our elections.”
Nate Sechrest, the PAC’s treasurer and general counsel of Reagan Outdoor Advertising, said in a statement issued Tuesday that the contributions demonstrate a growing number of supporters who are "committed to building a better community."
"(We) believe that a new administration is essential in addressing the social and commercial problems that have plagued Salt Lake City, yet have failed to be addressed by the present leadership," Sechrest said.
Ballots for the Aug. 11 primary election must be postmarked by Monday.
Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com, Twitter: KatieMcKellar1