$1.2 Million Spent on City Council Election

Political groups and candidates spent close to $1.2 million on the 2012 City Council election, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported Tuesday.

The majority of the money was spent by political committees, according to the Daily Press:

[They] outspent the candidates and measures that they backed two-to-one, with $830,509.50 of the total coming from seven organizations ranging from the familiar—Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR)—to the new kids on the block like Santa Monicans United for a Responsible Future, or SMURF.

The newspaper based its reports on new financial disclosure statements that show the total amounts spent on the election by each candidate and committee through Dec. 31, 2012. The election was Nov. 6.

As Patch reported Monday, SMURF raised nearly $500,000 from developer interests, including NMS Properties, Inc., the owners of the Fairmont-Miramar Hotel and the owners of the former Papermate site—all three have projects awaiting City Council approval.

SMRR, an influential group whose slate—Gleam Davis, Terry O'Day, Tony Vazquez and Ted Winterer—won the election, raised $165,965. It spent $9,040 on each its candidates, according to the Daily Press.

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