At-large City Council candidate raises big money
2024 special election taking place on Tuesday
An at-large Des Moines City Council candidate raised big money to fund his campaign for the 2024 special election — nearly surpassing the amount a mayoral candidate raised for the November 2023 city election in a fraction of the time, according to filings with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.
Within three months, architect Mike Simonson amassed $282,113 from more than 260 cash and in-kind contributions to run his campaign bid for the at-large seat formerly held by Mayor Connie Boesen.
Simonson, presumed to have exceeded his four opponents in fundraising, also is the only one of the five atlarge candidates who filed campaign finance information to the disclosure board, the state agency responsible for administering campaign finance laws.
Contributions to his campaign nearly eclipsed those of City Council member Josh Mandelbaum, who raised $283,768 in cash and in-kind contributions between January 2023 and the end of October 2023 for his mayoral bid. (Mandelbaum had already started with about $97,000 on hand.)
Campaign reports, which covers fundraising and spending from Jan. 1 through March 9, were due at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Simonson's opponents Dr. Claudia Addy, Benjamin Clarke, Justyn Lewis and Rose Marie Smith had not filed documents as of Friday afternoon. The election is Tuesday. Here's a look at campaign finances for the at-large race.
Mike Simonson presumably outspends all opponents
Simonson reported a total of $285,333 in cash and in-kind contributions, according to his campaign finance disclosure summary. Simonson started with no cash on hand at the beginning of the filing period.
Lewis, who ran for the at-large City Council seat in 2021, reported in January his campaign had $10,441 cash on hand.
Des Moines area real estate leaders, developers dominate Simonson campaign contributions
Simonson, president of Simonson + Associates Architects, LLC, drew heavy support from area developers and real estate moguls. The most significant contribution to the Simonson campaign came from Jim Conlin, owner of development company Conlin Properties, who gave $20,000.
Several other development and real estate figures collectively contributed thousands of dollars to the campaign, including William Knapp of Knapp Properties Commercial & Residential Real Estate; Mike Whalen, founder and CEO of Heart of America Group; Tim Rypma, president of Rypma Properties; Harry Bookie, founder of BH Equities, LLC; and Rich Eychaner, CEO of Eychaner Properties.
Nixon Lauridsen and Jim Cownie, both of whom also contributed to Connie Boesen's mayoral campaign in the fall, each gave $10,000 to Simonson.
Other significant contributors included Dr. Richard Deming of MercyOne; Baker Group CEO Gary Bridgewater; and Christine Sand, CEO of Lauridsen Group and wife of Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand; and Kathleen Fehrman, managing partner of Fehrman Investments and a community philanthropist — all of whom each contributed $5,000.
Simonson also contributed about $5,000 to his own campaign. None of the current Des Moines City Council members donated.
Simonson uses nearly half the campaign budget on ads
Simonson spent $234,789 on his campaign, according to the disclosure summary. The bulk — about 47% — was spent on advertising alone, which included newspaper and digital ads, billboards, and “media production,” the summary shows.
Simonson shelled out nearly $47,000 for printing expenses such as campaign and yard signs, as well as mailers. He paid another roughly $43,000 for campaign, finance, communication, and administrative consulting services.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.