Cheveldayoff campaign attracts most donations
A wave of corporate donations SASKATOON totalling almost $150,000 carried Ken Cheveldayoff into a strong position in the race to replace Brad Wall as leader of the Saskatchewan Party and the province’s next premier.
The Saskatoon Willowgrove MLA’s campaign had, as of Oct. 31, raised $177,528, of which more than 82 per cent came from corporations, according to the party’s first mandatory campaign finance disclosure.
While the campaign still has two months and two financial disclosures remaining, Cheveldayoff’s ability to attract cash suggests he could be a front-runner at this point in the race, according to Ken Rasmussen, a University of Regina political studies professor. However, given that three of the remaining five candidates are within $60,000 of Cheveldayoff ’s interim fundraising total, other camps may be able to make similar claims.
“Fundraising and the capacity to get new members into the party, and bring with them some money, are obviously related to one another, although there are of course lots of situations where they’re not,” Rasmussen said.
The Sask. Party’s first campaign financial disclosure represents the first release of hard information about where each of the candidates stand since Wall announced in August that he plans to step down.
Cheveldayoff’s total — which also includes $18,185 from individuals who donated more than $250 and $12,378 in private donations less than $250 — puts him almost $40,000 clear of secondplace Scott Moe, whose campaign attracted $138,366 in donations before Halloween.
Alanna Koch, meanwhile, raised $132,023 while Gord Wyant’s camp reported donations totalling $111,181. Tina Beaudry-Mellor, who has previously acknowledged that her campaign lacks resources, raised $34,424, of which $15,000 came from her husband’s law firm.
The sixth candidate, Rob Clarke, launched his campaign and filed his nomination papers after the disclosure deadline. He will not report his campaign finances until mid-January.
Rasmussen said the amount of corporate money in play — $345,331 as of Oct. 31 — should prompt a discussion about how private businesses can influence politics.