So Who's Paying For All This?

The financial backers for Mary Verner and Dennis Hession

Endorsing a candidate is one thing. It's another to put your money where your mouth is. Here's who's opening their wallets for each would-be mayor.

DENNIS HESSION

Total Cash Donations: $211,155
In-Kind Giving: $12,203
Total Aid: $223,358
# of Contributions: 342
Average Gift: $652
Most Frequent Gift: $250
The Lowdown: The mayor's $223,358 war chest takes him way past Jim West's $217,000 in 2004, making this the most a candidate has received in Spokane history. A big chunk comes from Avista, which -- between in-kind gifts, cash donations and gifts from employees -- gave more than $17,000.


Super Rangers ($1,000 )
Steven B. Smith, Northwest Tower LLC ($3,500)
Marshall Chesrown, Black Rock Dev. ($3,500)
Ron Wells, 601 W. Riverside LLC ($3,000)
Leroy and Brenda Nosbaum of ITRON ($2,500)
Bernardo Wills Architects ($2,000)
Walt and Karen Worthy ($1,500)
Burlington-Northern Santa Fe ($1,000)

Rangers ($500-999)
John Stone ($875)
Wheelabrator ($600)
Cyrus O'Leary's owner Cyrus Vaughan ($580)
K & L Gates, employees ($875)

Pioneers (Up to $499)
Steve Eugster ($350)
Wendell Reugh ($300)
Mitch Silver ($300)
CH2M Hill ($250)
RenCorp ($200)

MARY VERNER

Total Cash Donations: $83,305
In-Kind Giving: $2,759
Total Aid: $86,064
# of Contributions: 139
Average Gift: $599
Most Frequent Gift: $500
The Lowdown: Not only is the city council member's war chest less than half the size of the mayor's, it's also considerably more shallow. Hession got more than two-and-a-half times the number of donations, and his average gift was $50 more than hers. In addition, whereas 15 percent of Hession's contributions were for $1,000 or more, only 11 percent of Verner's were. Her biggest gift to date came in late September from the Spokane Firefighters Union, which gave a whopping $7,500 -- the biggest gift in the race.

Super Rangers ($1,000 )
Spokane Firefighters Union ($7,500)
Robert Harless, Harless Aviation ($5,000)
Jim Sheehan ($2,500)
Spokane Tribe of Indians ($2,000)
Gerald Dicker ($1,250)
Milford's Fish House ($1,000)
SEIU Healthcare ($1,000)

Rangers ($500-999)
Dean Lynch ($500)
The Rothrock Company ($500)
Patriot Electric Inc. ($500)
Tomlinson Black realtor Joel Crosby ($500)

Pioneers (Up to $499)
Bob Bostwick ($300)
Richard Rush ($250)
Former City Plan Commission president Candace Mumm ($200)
Realtor Mark Pinch ($200)
Rep. Don Barlow ($100)

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Joel Smith

Joel Smith is the media editor for The Inlander. In that position, he manages and directs Inlander.com and edits all copy for the website, the newspaper and all other special publications. A former staff writer, he has reported on local and state politics, the environment, urban development and culture, Spokane's...