Calgary election: Making sense of campaign dollars

With days remaining in the 2021 Calgary election, most of the fundraising is done by campaigns. But how much have the top candidates raised and from whom?

One of the top-polling mayoral candidates insinuated late in the running that the campaign is all about the money.

In his opening comments during a mayor debate hosted by CBC on Thursday, Jeff Davison accused both of his opponents, Jeromy Farkas and Jyoti Gondek, of having millions of dollars behind them.

“Jeromy has the backing of millions from the wealthy elite who don’t value the needs, wants and desires of the average Calgarian family, and Jyoti has the backing of $1.7 million from union bosses trying to buy her way to the mayor’s chair,” Davison said.

Farkas pointed to the “incredible support of grassroots donors” when asked about the recent full wrap advertisement on the local broadsheet newspaper.

But according to calculations based on the donor list on his website, Farkas may have already amassed a $1.38-million war chest during this election.

Digging through the donor lists the three candidates have published showed differences in how they reported.

Farkas’ list excludes full first names, contribution denominations differ between Farkas’ and Davison’s lists, and Gondek’s list only has names.

More people have donated to the Farkas campaign than Davison’s or Gondek’s.