Newport Beach City Council candidates report last of fundraising totals prior to Election Day

Only a few more days remain before voters in Orange County finish casting their ballots in races for the leadership of their cities and beyond.

Locally, the Newport Beach City Council election touts eight candidates running in seven districts, though candidates are elected and represent the city at large.

Some candidates began fundraising as early as late last fall while others began their efforts this year, shortly after final documents were received and filed by the city clerk to be placed on the ballot. Campaign finance documents prior to the election were last filed with the city by Oct. 27.

Roughly $1.3 million has gone into the election this year between all eight campaigns in Newport Beach this year compared to roughly $956,000 spent by candidates and political action groups on the last midterm election in 2018.

Four seats are open for election in Districts 1, 3, 4 and 6. Mayor Kevin Muldoon and council members Diane Dixon and Marshall “Duffy” Duffield are terming out this year.

In District 1, which includes much of the Balboa Peninsula and West Newport, candidate Tom Miller raised an estimated $566,372 this year. About $425 was raised in monetary contributions between the last reported period of Sept. 25 to Oct. 22.

Opponent Joe Stapleton raised $188,693, with about $15,100 contributed for that same September to October period.

Both Stapleton and Miller declared their campaigns early and announced similar war chests early on. Documents filed in January this year reported $126,530 for Miller’s campaign and $156,125 for Stapleton’s.

District 3, including neighborhoods around upper Newport Bay, will see a three-man race this Election Day. Planning Commissioner Erik Weigand is the frontrunner in terms of fundraising as of October with a reported $83,570 raised to-date. Weigand is followed by candidate Amy Peters, who reported roughly $3,800 for this calendar year. Fellow candidate Jim Mosher did not report any contributions.

Weigand also raised about $1,550 last year. No other fundraising in 2021 was reported by Peters or Mosher.

The last competitive race this November will be in District 6, which includes Corona del Mar. The seat for that district is currently occupied by Councilwoman Joy Brenner, who is vying to keep a hold on that seat against Planning Commissioner Lauren Kleiman.

Campaign documents for both campaigns report Brenner raised about $22,694 and Kleiman about $17,075 for the fall time period. Documents filed indicate that to-date both have raised $91,310 and $87,839 respectively. Brenner reported contributions totaling $18,554 in 2021. No documents were reported for Kleiman prior to July.

Candidate Robyn Grant is running unopposed in District 4, which includes the Eastbluff and Bonita Canyon neighborhoods, and will be elected this November, but her campaign records report $67,180 in funds raised. This is in addition to the $60,298 that Grant’s campaign raised last year.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.