Saturday, February 06, 2010

Swisstack Outraising Owen 10,000 to 1

By Rosalie Rayburn
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
          Fundraising in Rio Rancho's mayoral race has a sense of déjà vu.
        Campaign finance reports filed this week show Mayor Thomas Swisstack's election campaign fundraising dwarfs his only rival by a factor of nearly 10,000 to 1.
        The reports show Swisstack has received $14,200 in contributions. Jim Owen, the former mayor who is running against him, has contributed $1.50 of his own money.
        "My experience with Mr. Swisstack in previous meetings is that however much money you can raise, he can double it," Owen said. "There's no way to compete with him on that level.
        Swisstack and Owen were rivals in the 2008 mayoral race, which Swisstack won. At this stage of the previous campaign, Swisstack had raised $39,400 from contributions. Jim Owen had raised $295.
        Owen claimed this week that Swisstack's donations shows his support comes from developers and unions.
        In fact, Swisstack's report showed more than half the contributions he received came from developers and landowners. The largest amounts came from Reid & Associates and Titan Property Management LLC, which gave $2,500 each.
        The two companies were responsible for construction and development of the Hewlett-Packard customer support center, which opened recently in Rio Rancho's city center.
        Charles Haegelin, president of Curb North, which was involved with the Cabezon development, contributed $1,000.
        Contributions from landowners totaled around $1,800. Around $1,600 came from unions or union-related organizations.
        Swisstack said his fundraising was consistent with previous campaigns he has run for municipal and state office. By the end of the campaign, he expects donations from individuals to balance out those from development interests.
        "Whether it's developers or individuals — they contribute because they believe in what's been happening in the last two years is in the best interests of our city," Swisstack said.
        Participation by developers reflects the importance of the partnerships between the private and the public sector in the city's future growth, he said. He also cited the town hall meetings he has held to listen to residents' comments.
        Their spending is also out of balance. Owen has spent $1.50 to obtain absentee voter reports.
        Swisstack has spent $10,320. Of that, $900 went to former Rio Rancho Observer reporter James Currier for creating a campaign Web site and $2,200 went to Third Eye Strategies, a Virginia-based national public opinion research organization.
        Swisstack said he commissioned Currier to do the Web site after he resigned from the Observer in December.
        Swisstack said he has used Third Eye for previous campaigns to help him gauge public sentiment.
        "The data they gave me was good," Swisstack said. "(It's) information that helps me stay focused on things that people feel are important."
       

You also can send comments via our comment form