How Much To Be Mayor of Calgary?
We asked Calgary mayoral candidates how much they anticipate raising and spending in 2021. Some even answered us.
Back in 2007, cities in Alberta had the same names as they do today but the money in their politics was far thicker. Consider the race for mayor in Calgary that year. The incumbent mayor, Dave Bronconnier, was running for re-election and scaring off potential challengers with the $1-million dollars he had in his war chest (adjusted for inflation, that’s $1.23-million today). Bronconnier’s fundraising events had generated hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he also had more than $300,000 left over from his 2004 election win, which according to Alberta’s rules could be spent if he sought re-election. It was nothing but intimidating. But venture capitalist Alnoor Kassam didn’t flinch. That year, Kassam is reported to have spent more than $1-million, mostly of his own money, to challenge Bronconnier to be Calgary’s mayor.
Result? Bronconnier, the incumbent with all the name recognition that provides, took 61 per cent of the vote, and Kassam took just less than 17 per cent. Looking at it all with a cost per vote lens, just 33 per cent of Calgary’s eligible voters had cast a ballot. That meant Bronconnier and Kassam had more than $2 million at hand to fight for the support of less than half the city’s voters, and that Kassam had potentially spent a startling $28 for each one of the 35,442 votes he won.
The 2007 Calgary election, then, was something of a nadir for big money in Alberta’s municipal politics. Fourteen years later, with several big changes to finance rules and no incumbent mayor in the race (though there are nuances to that — please read on), what will a mayoral campaign in Calgary cost in 2021?
To answer this, Rage reached out to mayoral candidates Jan Damery, Brad Field, Jyoti Gondek, Jeromy Farkas, Paul Michael Hallelujah, Geoff Rainey, Zane Novak, Shaoli Wang, Will Vizor, Grant Prior and Sunny Singh to ask how much they anticipate raising and spending on the upcoming municipal campaign. Note: Our email to mayoral candidate Jeff Davison bounced (whoops—our bad on that one) so we’ve resent that and will offer any reply.
Those that did reply — Damery, Wang, Hallelujah and Novak — offered an interesting window into what’s happening. While some suggest talk among political strategists is that a successful campaign for mayor in 2021 will cost more than $1 million, others questioned that figure. For one, they say, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn has changed the fundraising reality for municipal politicians. For another, they note, the emergence of the federal election at the same time as the municipal election may have unexpected consequences for fundraising. And for another, they say, the new rules have some interesting outcomes for the fundraising landscape.
So, let’s get to the responses.
Mayoral Campaigns from $400 to $250,000
Wang noted in an email that her campaign cost will be “no more than $400.”
Hallelujah replied in an email that his campaign has so far spent $5,000 on lawn signs.
Novak replied to Rage’s request by offering some off-the-record commentary by phone on why offering numbers could put him at a disadvantage, given that he and other candidates not on council since 2017 in the way that three candidates (Farkas, Gondek and Davison) have been lack name recognition. That name-recognition advantage could translate into a money advantage, which can turn a potential donor off of donating to a non-incumbent.
It’s a very fair point. Several candidates that Rage has talked to have brought it up. Indeed, while less measurable in dollars and cents, incumbency is quite measurable at the ballot box. How powerful? Some studies in Canada suggest incumbents regularly have a 90 per cent chance of winning in municipal races.
Nevertheless, Novak sent Rage a statement via text message — without figures — that notes he has no paid staff and a base of grassroots supporters rather than large donors.
“It is our anticipation to run a successful winning campaign on a budget that is a mere fraction of what the key mayoral candidates used in the 2017 municipal campaign,” Novak said.
Novak added he has no affiliation with third-party advertisers and that he will offer a full picture of his campaign finances “at the end of the campaign.”
To put Novak’s comments in perspective, Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s disclosure from 2017 pegged his campaign spending at $688,705; his closest competitor, Bill Smith, disclosed $843,846 in spending (receipts here).
Rage also spoke with mayoral candidate Damery. Unlike many in the race, Damery has offered updated lists of her donors on her website in an effort to create more transparency than the rules require.
Why? “I’m very concerned about the lack of transparency and trust in our politicians,” Damery said.
Similar to Novak, Damery raised concerns that donations to municipal campaigns are not tax deductible, as they are for provincial and federal campaigns. This creates a disincentive for people to donate at all, she said. “I think there needs to be a re-draft,” Damery said of the rules. “What’s working? What’s not?”
Damery said she has raised money corporately and for not-for-profits in her career, and that dollar amounts change as a result of incentives and contexts. In the corporate or non-profit fundraising world, a $5,000 donation is not a large amount, she said, yet there are all sorts of incentives for that to be the case. But in a mayoral fundraising campaign, especially with the new rules in place, such a donation is very big.
“Very few people give $5,000 out of the gate,” Damery said. “We’ve had to redefine what small or large is in that context. It takes a lot of donors to raise the money. The game is really stacked for the incumbent. How do you create the momentum that people want to give you money?”
Damery said people are donating on multiple occasions as the campaign continues, as they shift their perceptions, adding that small amounts can grow. “There’s an education with donors,” she said. “Most people don’t realize there’s been a change in rules.”
On those rule changes, which some have suggested will allow big money into the race and aren’t in keeping with regular peoples’ means, Damery said that mayoral campaigns have traditionally been funded by corporate developers, estimating 80 per cent of the money was developer cash in the past. The big change in 2021, she said, is that corporations are banned from contributing and that individuals have much more room to donate. She said from that perspective, the rules have evened the playing field.
Indeed, on that level playing field idea, Damery is perhaps also known to some as the candidate that filed a complaint with the Election Commissioner in Calgary over allegations one of her rivals, Davison, broke finance rules.
Many have raised questions about how third-party advertisers and candidates co-exist in this election. Damery filed a complaint on that point. “We’ve become aware in my campaign, I and my team, that Coun. Davison allegedly has violated campaign finance rules,” Damery said, in a story reported by the Global News’ Adam MacVicar. “We’re just asking questions, it’s looking offside to the legislation.”
CBC also offered excellent reporting on this story.
Another change Damery has suggested is that the practice of corporate donors ‘sprinkling’ donations to multiple candidates may have stopped. In the past, perhaps to ensure they donated to a winning candidate, corporate donors have been known to offer money to multiple candidates, and even those running against the other. That’s no longer happening — at least with what’s publicly viewable, Damery said. “There’s only a couple [candidates] who are disclosing and there’s very little [donor] overlap,” she said.
What effect will the federal election campaign have on municipal campaign fundraising? Less than you might think. “We’re not seeing any impacts,” Damery said. “In fact, my fundraising has picked up. I think the upside on [the federal election] is it gets people paying attention to elections. I think the jury’s out, it could go either way. Some might see how important local is.”
Damery said the most important point of the campaign for money is the final weeks. That’s when the fundraising will pick up and the donations will flow. Many potential donars have hedged, watching for trends in what’s still a field of 26 candidates for mayor. While a lot of the success in these weeks will come down to name recognition, she said she’s been working to move beyond that.
“It comes back to finance because it takes money to do that,” Damery said. “How do you crack the nut on name recognition?”
The money rules should change to limit the incumbent advantage, she said.
“Should a councillor continue to earn their wage while they’re running for mayor? I’m on unpaid leave of absence [from my job]. I stepped away to dedicate full time.”
Those that are currently councillors but are running for mayor have been part of the day-to-day business of the city and are still being paid while they run, she said.
But perhaps Damery’s most interesting insight is a dollar figure. She said she expects her campaign to raise and spend roughly $250,000. And though campaigns in 2017 were in excess of $750,000, she doesn’t think they will be in 2021. Fundraising has changed, she said, and money is less plentiful in the election.
“In past it’s been $750,000. That will not be the case this round. Campaigns are having to be far more resourceful and efficient. I don’t know what the number is going to be.”
UPDATE:
Geoff Rainey replied to our email with the following:
I will be self funded, so no more than $10,000. I think money can be more unproductive in politics, and believe you can run respectable campaigns under $10,000.
And Jeff Davison spokesperson Daryl Zerr provided Rage the following after this post went up (our initial email didn’t get there):
Clearly, we have a goal of raising as much as we are able. I think that’s the goal of any campaign.Under the new provincial rules it takes a lot of time to raise dollars so we are balancing that with the real job of getting out to the doors and to the events to talk with Calgarians.
I think it will take about $500k for our campaign for Mayor. That’s quite a bit less than previous Mayoral races but is balanced with our ability to attract great volunteers. I am so fortunate to have a strong, committed volunteer base.
On the claim that incumbents have an advantage because of name recognition, I completely agree. This is actually why you get elected as a councillor first. You gain experience, make a difference in the job and get your initiatives pushed over the line and then you can think about the Mayor’s job. Calgarians typically look for experience in the Mayor’s seat.
It’s always going to be harder if you start a job with a new company and expect they will make you the CEO on day 2.