City Councilman Outraises, Outspends Opponents 20 to 1

In one of two contested races on , at-large councilman Ryan Nowlin outraised and outspent his opponents by a wide margin.

In the other contested race, for the Ward 1 post, David Anderson raised less money and spent less, but still got more votes.

Candidates’ campaign finance reports — set to be finalized and posted online once audited — were due last Friday and released to Lakewood Patch on Wednesday.

Officials from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said the post-election campaign finance reports cover the time period between Oct. 19 and Dec. 9. The pre-election reports — tracking campaign finances before Oct. 19 — were due Oct. 27, according to the board of elections.

Here’s a breakdown of how much money each candidate raised and spent on their campaigns in 2011:

• Anthony Davis, who challenged incumbent Ryan Nowlin for an at-large bid, didn’t raise or spend any money, according to the report. Yet he still managed to get 16 percent of the vote. 
• Meanwhile, incumbent at-large councilman Ryan Nowlin raised $8,495 in 2011. The largest boost in his campaign came with nine $288 donations from employees at Schneider, Smeltz, Ranney & LaFond — the law firm where Nowlin is an attorney. He also got support from a few fellow city council members. Nowlin spent $8,229 during 2011, with $3,337 reported in the pre-election report; and $4,892 reported in the post-election filing. Most of the money was spent on campaign flyers, T-shirt and other forms of advertising, according to the report. Nowlin won the race with 49 percent of the vote.
• The third candidate in the race for the at-large seat on council, John Zappala raised $425 in 2011. Zappala, who didn’t file a pre-election report, spent $96 on his campaign — most of that on sign supplies.

Race for Ward 1:

• Incumbent David Anderson raised $825 in 2011, and Anderson loaned the campaign another $2,100. He spent $863 on signs and supplies, according to the pre-election reports; and another $952 on a campaign kick-off event and additional advertisements, according to the post-election report. He won the race with 54 percent of the total votes.
• Patrick Metzger, who ran an unsuccessful bid for the Ward 1 seat, raised $2,250, according to the post-election results. The largest donor was Metzger, was himself, who spent $1,400 on his campaign. He spent $2,162 on signs, printing and postage.

Candidates aren’t required to file a pre-election report if they do not spend or raise more than $1,000, said election officials.

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