In the crowded race for District Four supervisor, a trio of candidates has raised many tens of thousands of dollars, while others have much less in their campaign coffers.
Dennis Rodoni of Olema has raised the most, though Dominic Grossi of Novato and Wendi Kallins of Forest Knolls have also raised substantive amounts. Excluding loans, the other five have each raised less than $10,000—and some much less.
Fundraising is typically a key part of a political campaign, perhaps all the more important with eight candidates. Mailers, signs, precinct lists, advertisements, websites, venues for fundraising and other expenses cost thousands of dollars.
Mr. Rodoni, who announced his candidacy late in the game, raised $56,981 in monetary contributions between January 1 and April 23, with another $5,349.50 in in-kind contributions. (Some in-kind contributions came from himself and his wife.)
Just about half of the 160 or so contributions of $100 or more came from West Marin residents, largely from coastal Marin—not surprising, given Mr. Rodoni’s local roots and the fact that he won coastal towns when he challenged Supervisor Steve Kinsey, an incumbent, in 2004. He said that, in total, over 200 people have contributed.
“I’m grateful that the campaign is going so well even though we started late,” he told the Light in an email. “We have more than 220 individual donors, from all walks of life, who support me because they care deeply about this county and the way it is governed.”
Liza Goldblatt, a Point Reyes Station resident who is contributing financially and volunteering for his campaign, worked with Mr. Rodoni on the West Marin Mosquito Council. She said that his approach and thoughtfulness have helped her evaluate her own positions.
“I’ve watched him listen well to multiple voices. I watched him evaluate and analyze and come up with workable compromises,” she said. “He is very
reflective and solution-oriented.”
Just behind Mr. Rodoni is Mr. Grossi, a fourth-generation rancher from Novato who has fielded $49,172 in monetary contributions.
The ranching community has swooped in to support Mr. Grossi’s campaign, with active ranchers, dairy owners, farmers and others connected to the agricultural community donating at least $20,000, according to campaign filings.
Mr. Rodoni also has some endorsements from ranchers, but Mr. Grossi unsurprisingly has a long roster of agricultural donors, including Dave Evans of Marin Sun Farms, the Kehoe Dairy and Peter Martinelli, a farmer in Bolinas.
Mr. Martinelli, who donated $500, said that given his work with Mr. Grossi on the Local Coastal Program and other issues, “in the field of candidates he stands out to me as one who can reach across ideological divide and understand the other side of the issue. He is capable of striking compromise in this era of sharp divisiveness.”
Wendi Kallins, a Forest Knolls resident and founder of Safe Routes to Schools, pulled in $24,017 in monetary contributions and another $2,300 in in-kind donations. (She also loaned her campaign $10,000.)
Christin Anderson, a Woodacre resident and member of the Mainstreet Moms, said she donated $100 to her campaign and is volunteering for her because of the candidate’s community activism and policy experience. Wendi “has worked with different agencies and knows how to affect policy and get things done… She, to me, is the closest to Steve in terms of how to collaborate with people,” she said.
Ms. Kallins, who had over 80 donors, received one of the two largest donations of any candidate from Corey Goodman, a biotech entrepreneur in Marshall who is married to sheep rancher and cheesemaker Marcia Barinaga.
Mr. Goodman gave her $5,000, but said he also plans to donate to Mr. Grossi’s campaign. “We think that both Wendi and Dominic Grossi represent a wide range of values we share,” he told the Light in an email.
Mr. Rodoni also received $5,000, from John and Valerie Wookey, a Palo Alto exexecutive at Salesforce and a homemaker.
The other five candidates have raised less. Excluding loans, Al Dugan of Novato brought in $8,118; Brian Staley of Woodacre raised $1,950; Tomas Kaselionis of Novato raised $2,160; and Alex Easton-Brown of Lagunitas raised $50.
Mr. Easton-Brown said he had not asked for donations, but received some unsolicited. “I’ll be putting as much money into the campaign as it takes,” he wrote in an email. “Last time [when I ran for an assembly seat] I put up $35,000 and hardly touched it. This time is different because I have an excellent chance. We’ll see.”
Mr. Kaselionis, who works for the Federal Emergency Management Authority, conducts much of his outreach through his website and Facebook, where he regularly posts his opinions about issues, as well as going door-to-door and appearing at events. (He also has his web address printed on a large vinyl wrap around his truck.)
Mr. Kaselionis told the Light that spending time on representing his views is “more important than raising money.”
He added that a visit to a pulp mill in Eureka makes him averse to printing mailers and getting mired in peppering the fourth district with wasteful signs that turn into trash and litter or recycling.
“I feel like my strategy works. It’s who I am,” he said.