campaign finance Archives

Big money plays big role in effort to seat conservative Council candidates

Grassroots campaigning helps build Goldstein's campaign fund

by Natalie Hanson | Posted October 21, 2024

photo by Yucheng Tang

Mike O’Brien speaks at a candidates’ forum.

Chico’s City Council races have become clearly divided between grassroots campaigns that rely on small donors and campaigns funded by wealthy outside interests.

Liberal-leaning candidates rely heavily on door-to-door canvassing and fundraising events. But meanwhile, the hefty financial advantage enjoyed by conservative-leaning candidates has helped drive a strong presence for them throughout the city, from campaign signs to advertising. Conservative-leaning and Republican candidates have long held access to some of the bigger wallets in the region, including in the last City Council race which brought about a 6-1 conservative majority. read more

Huber, 141 votes ahead, confident of Council win

Expects to take office in December for 5-2 liberal majority

by Dave Waddell | Posted November 11, 2018

Newly elected Chico City Council members will be sworn in Dec. 4, and Scott Huber expects to be there, raising his hand and reciting the oath of office.

According to the latest vote tallies, the liberal Huber holds a 141-vote lead over incumbent Andrew Coolidge for the third and final Council seat contested in the Nov. 6 election. With nine candidates vying, conservative Kasey Reynolds finished on top with 12,758 votes, while progressive Alexandria “Alex” Brown was second with 12,128. Huber currently is in third with 11,521 votes, while the conservative Coolidge is fourth with 11,380.

If Huber is seated, the Council will shift from a 4-3 conservative majority to a 5-2 liberal advantage – despite more than a quarter of million dollars pouring in to advance the candidacies of Reynolds, Coolidge and Matt Gallaway, who finished sixth. read more

Chico’s conservative candidates haul in $200,000

Esplanade League fined, quits; FPPC still probing conservative PAC

by Dave Waddell | Posted October 5, 2018

When it comes to political action committees (PACs) operating in this year’s Chico City Council race, some things have changed while one has remained the same: Big bucks contributed by big developers to a PAC backing conservative candidates.

In fact, three conservative City Council candidates and the developers’ PAC supporting them have hauled in an unprecedented $200,000 in contributions for the Nov. 6 election, compared to a total of about $85,000 for three liberal candidates.

Meantime, the Esplanade League, a liberal PAC established in 1997, filed termination papers earlier this year in the wake of paying a fine to the state Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). read more