September 24, 2020 at 8:54 pm

Stockton mayoral candidates Michael Tubbs and Kevin Lincoln filed their campaign finance summaries for the period of July 1 to September 19 on Thursday. Lincoln raised more than Tubbs during the time frame, but still lags in terms of overall campaign funds and spending as November 3 nears.

Lincoln raised almost $120,000 from July 1 to September 19, while Tubbs took in slightly more than $81,000. Lincoln had the benefit of a more diverse group of donors, including San Joaquin businesses, statewide political action committees, and local individuals. Major contributors included the Bank of Stockton ($10,000 on September 18) and the Stockton firefighters’ ($10,000 on August 25) and police ($15,000 on August 20) unions.

Tubbs’ donors were largely individuals based in the Bay Area, typically giving $1,000 or so at a time. Venture capitalist Reid Hoffman ($10,000 on August 21), Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill ($5,000 on August 5), and venture capitalist Yael Cohen ($1,000 on September 9 and $5,000 on September 23) were among the major contributors.

While Lincoln raised more, Tubbs outspent him by a factor of approximately 3 to 2, using up roughly $78,000. As of September 19, Tubbs had $15,000 of unpaid bills. It is relatively common for campaigns, particularly large ones, to have unpaid expenditures when a filing deadline rolls around.

Tubbs’ balances at the beginning and end of the period were almost the same. Only July 1, his campaign had $193,000. That balance increased slightly to $195,000 by September 19.

Lincoln spent $52,000 during the filing period with $2,000 of unpaid expenditures, but had more significant balance growth through the time frame. He started with less than $4,400 but exited the period with more than $71,000, a growth of a factor of 16. That being said, Lincoln still has considerably less in the bank that Tubbs right now since Tubbs had a significant head start.

The comparisons between the fundraising numbers of Tubbs and Lincoln indicate an increasingly competitive race, despite that polls are basically nonexistent. In the last filing period, which included the primary, Lincoln raised less than $6,800 while Tubbs raised $235,000. That is a stark difference compared to Thursday’s numbers.

Additionally, not all of Tubbs’ supporters from 2016 have stuck with him this election cycle. Lincoln has received some significant funding ($25,000) from the firefighters’ and police unions, who backed Tubbs four years ago.

It is also not very common that the challenger in a mayoral race outraises an incumbent, especially one with such an increasingly elevated statewide and national profile as Tubbs. However, Tubbs still has the advantage of being the incumbent, and has the ability to raise large amounts from both local and national sources should things begin to look precarious for him.