The 10 candidates running in this year's Mississippi Supreme Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals races raised about $231,000 in contributions in June, about $30,000 more than in May ($204,090).
However, combined campaign spending for all 10 candidates floated near the $100,000 mark for the second month in a row.
During the last reporting period, the candidates had collected a combined $598,852 year to date since Jan. 1. Now that figure sits at $829,973 so far this year.
Judges on Mississippi’s supreme and appeals courts do not run statewide. Voters from their respective districts elect them.
The nine members of the Mississippi Supreme Court are elected from three districts: northern, central and southern. The 10 judges on the Court of Appeals are elected from five districts throughout the state.
Judicial races are considered nonpartisan, meaning that candidates did not participate in any primaries. However, several Political Action groups, or PACs, have donated to several candidates' campaigns.
Candidates Jennifer Schloegel, Bryon Carter and Jenifer Branning campaigns reported cash-on-hand balances to the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office that did not align with funds raised against cash spent.
Carter and Schloegels' campaigns also misreported their final balances in June.
Here is a look at the combined $231,271 candidates raised last month.
See June campaign finance reportingSee which candidates in judicial races raised the most for their campaigns
Court of Appeals race for District 5
Amy St. Pe':
- June: $22,725 raised; $12,244 spent.
- Year to date: $154,050 raise; $41,755.70 spent.
- Cash on hand balance: $112,294.30.
Some of St. Pe's highest donors included Adam Dial and W. Ed. Trehern, Vancleave, and Ocean Springs developers who each donated $3,750. William McVea, a Mobile insurance broker, donated $5,000.
St. Pe' also received a $5,000 donation from the Mississippi Physicians PAC. Its website doesn't claim to be a partisan committee.
Jennifer Schloegel:
- June: $22,250 raised; $3,695.90 spent.
- Year to date: $159,119.70 raised, $29,229.59 spent.
- Cash on hand balance: $129,890.
Schloegel's campaign incorrectly reported $131,878.29 in cash on hand. Of her donors in June, only two contributed more than $2,000. Those people were Gulfport residents John and Patty Sneed, who each donated $2,500. Schloegel did not receive any donations this period from any PAC.
Assistant District Attorney and Gulfport Office Division Chief Ian Baker:
- June: $2,684 raised; $1,832.61. spent.
- Year to date: Raised $70,780.30; $2,792.59 spent.
- Cash on hand: $67,987.71.
Baker's highest donors were Davis and Amanda Baker, a couple from Hoover, Alabama, who donated $1,000.
Supreme Court Central District race
Mississippi Sen. Jenifer Branning:
- June: $125,142.16 raised; $47,484 spent.
- Year to date: $270,696.16 raised; $74,543.27 spent.
- Loan: $250,000
- Cash on Hand: $446,152.89.
Branning's campaign incorrectly reported the cash on hand to be $446,148.89.
Of her donors in June, Branning had 12 donations total more than $1,000. The five highest individual donors were Russell Newman, a Pearl-based lawmaker, donating $5,000; Flowood-based Tower Loan of Mississippi with $5,000; and Dunlap and Kyle, a law firm in Batesville, which donated $4,000.
Partisan groups and PACS that donated to Branning were The Committee for Clean Environment and Fair Taxation PAC ($5,000), the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee ($1,000), Mississippi Manufacturers Association PAC ($5,000), Mississippi Medical PAC ($5,000), Mississippi Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores Assocation PAC ($1,000) and the Mississippi Coalition for Progress DBA Bully Bloc ($5,000).
Lawmaker support groups who donated included Friends of Jason White and MS for Harkins, with both groups donating $1,000.
Incumbent Jim Kitchens:
- June: $27,012 raised; $13,814 spent.
- Year to date: $87,437 raised; $46,877.71 spent.
- Cash on hand: $40,569.29.
Kitchens' donors who donated above $3,000 totaled five, they included Clarksdale attorneys Ralph E. Chapman ($5,000) and John H. Cocke ($5,000), Jackson attorney John Hawkins ($5,000).
No PACs donated to Kitchens during the June reporting period.
Byron Carter, a Byram based attorney:
- June: $300 raised; $75.97 spent.
- Year to date: $5,895 raised; $9,066 spent.
- Loan: $11,569 from Carter.
- Cash on hand: 8,322 in cash on hand,
Carter's campaign incorrectly reported only $3,247 in cash on hand.
According to MSOS records, Carter has yet to update his July 10 or June 10 filing, which also reported an incorrect cash on hand figure.
Carter did not receive any donation above $1,000 in June.
Ceola James, a former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge:
- June: $0 raised; $398.75 spent.
- Year to date: $1,655 raised; $547.75 spent.
- Cash on hand: $1,107.25.
James by herself reported raising $150 in June and $934 since Jan. 1. She has spent the same amount she raised, leaving her own account with $0 in cash on hand.
Abby Gale Robinson, a Jackson-based attorney, has not raised any funds, according to MSOS records.
Mississippi Supreme Court Southern District race
Incumbent Dawn Beam:
- June: $27,608 raised; $12,376 spent.
- Year to date: $63,958; $28,595.08 spent.
- Cash on hand balance at $35,362.95.
Of her donors only four contributed more than $1,000 and all but one were PACs. They include the Mississippi Poultry Association ($5,000), the Hattiesburg Clinic Healthcare Policy ($5,000), the Mississippi Medical PAC ($5,000) and Beam herself, who donated $3,388 to her own campaign.
David Sullivan, a south Mississippi-based attorney:
- June: $3,400 raised; $361.80 spent.
- Year to date: $38,800 raised; $1380.71 spent
- Cash on Hand: $37,419.29.
Sullivan had no individual donor contribute more than $1,000, and no PAC donated to his campaign in June. His top three donors were Hawkins Law Firm ($1,000), Brad Morris Law Firm, ($500) and Robert Knesal, a Gulfport resident ($500).
Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
Most Popular
Comments / 0