Campaign fundraising for June primary exceeds $711,000 to date.

After County Supervisor Mary Adams ran her first campaign for office two years ago, she was surprised by how much money went into it, and decided once she was seated to pursue a campaign finance reform policy. That policy remains elusive for the Board of Supervisors, stymied by concerns that big donors could simply form multiple entities to comply with a cap. 

Meanwhile, there's a new election season underway, with some significant races coming for the June 5 primary—and big spending to accompany them. 

It's only April, and there have been over $711,000 raised in countywide primaries alone. 

The two-way races will be decided in June; three-way race requires at least 50 percent of the vote to win outright in the primary, or the top two vote-getters will go to a runoff in November, meaning even more cash flowing. 

With a periodic campaign finance filing deadline on Thursday, the latest fundraising figures are in, revealing who has a successful fundraising machine, and where their support is coming from. 

With County Supervisor Simon Salinas retiring, three candidates are vying to claim his open seat representing District 3, a vast swath of Monterey County: all of South County and part of Salinas.

Chris Lopez, Salinas' chief of staff, has a strong fundraising lead with over $169,000, more than six times that of opponent Alejandro Chavez; they've both out-fundraised opponent Edgar Alcantara, who has reported no fundraising to date. 

Lopez raised $25,000 each from Fresh Foods Inc. in King City and ranching company 3 N&M, and another $20,000 from the Salinas Valley Leadership Group PAC. He also got support from ag companies including D'Arrigo Bros. and Southwest Harvesting Inc., plus $100 from Supervisor Luis Alejo and $200 from Alejo's chief of staff, Linda Gonzalez.

This is Lopez's first run for public office. 

Chavez is a Soledad city councilmember and former chief of staff for longtime supervisor Fernando Armenta, whose total fundraising is shy of $20,000. His donations are mostly small, with only two in excess of $1,000: He received $5,000 each from the Monterey Coin and Jewelry Shop, owned by businessman Nader Agha, and Huntington Farms. He also received $1,000 from his old boss Armenta's campaign fund.

In the race for District 2—North County and part of Salinas—political newcomer Regina Gage, currently the executive director Meals on Wheels of the Salinas Valley, is challenging incumbent John Phillips. 

Gage has raised about $171,000, from many small donors including former supervisor Karin Stasser-Kauffman; the Democratic Women of Monterey County; LandWatch Executive Director Michael DeLapa; Marina City Councilmember Gail Morton; County Supervisor Jane Parker (who gave a larger total gift, $8,500); Parker's chief of staff, Kristi Markey; MPUSD board member (and a Parker staffer) Wendy Root Askew; HMBY LP (a company owned by businessman Nader Agha); retired judge Kay Kingsley; and Mari Kloeppel, a co-founder of the North County group Friends, Artists and Neighbors (FANs) of Elkhorn Slough. 

Her single largest donation, $39,800, came from her husband, Steuart Samuels, who is the executive director of the St. Andrews Residential Programs in San Jose. 

Phillips has raised $150,000 for his re-election campaign.

Donors include hospitality, business and agriculture interests, ranging from small ($100) to the thousands. Among them: Ted Balestreri, CEO of Cannery Row Company; Alvarez Brothers LLC, a business trio that started out in the hardware store business; Valley Home Mobile Park; D'Arrigo Brothers; the Nunes Company; Mann Packing chair Lorri Koster; Scheid Vineyards; Dale Huss, a VP at Ocean Mist Farms; John Narigi, owner of the Monterey Plaza Hotel; Bernardus Lodge; restaurateur Bert Cutino; developer Doug Wiele; architect Peter Kasavan; former supervisor Lou Calcagno; San Ardo ranchers Mary Orradre and Melissa Duflock; roofer Pete Scudder; Monterey County Superior Court Judge Mark Hood; developer Mark Kelton, who is behind the controversial Ferrini Ranch development on Highway 68; and Paraiso Springs Resort, a long-stalled project proposed for the Santa Lucia foothills outside of Soledad.

Steve Vagnini, who first ran for and won the position of County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder in 2002, is facing his first contested election since he was first elected to the office.

One of his employees, Supervising Appraiser Larry Tack, is running against his boss. Vagnini has raised about $8,000 and Tack about $10,000; Tack has loaned his campaign about another $16,000. 

With County Auditor Mike Miller not seeking re-election, that position is open for the first time in 20 years. His second-in-command, Assistant Auditor Rupa Shah, is running to succeed her boss, citing her 25 years of government accounting and management experience as qualifications.

In contrast, Darren Huber—a newcomer to Pebble Beach, who registered to vote in Monterey County just last September, according to Monterey County Elections Department records—has no government experience but has an extensive resume in the field. He currently commutes to work at Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company in Orange County. 

Huber has reported no fundraising activity, and appears to have no active campaign underway.  

Shah has raised $750, but spent more than $2,000 to date, mostly with money she loaned to her own campaign. (Miller also gave $500.)

The race for Monterey County Sheriff has been particularly vicious, and with a pending lawsuit against Sheriff Steve Bernal (one of the candidates) and an investigation into questionable payments made out of the Deputy Sheriff's Association account by Deputy Scott Davis, the other candidate, that battling appears unlikely to end soon. 

Bernal famously emerged as a deputy in the 2014 election and beat incumbent Scott Miller in an upset after record fundraising. He's leading the way again as far as cash, with $175,000 raised.

Margaret Duflock, a San Ardo rancher—and Bernal's brother's mother-in-law—bankrolled his campaign last time, and this time has given $2,800. He's also gotten donations from the hospitality industry ($2,750 from the Cannery Row Company, $2,500 from the River Inn in Big Sur, $2,500 from Levett Properties, which owns Carmel hotels) and agriculture ($6,500 from Fresh Foods Inc. in King City, $2,500 from Ocean Mist chair Ed Bouttonnet, $2,500 from Rocket Farms). 

He also received $3,500 from California Forensic Medical Group, the company that has a contract to provide medical care in the Monterey County Jail, and notably, $1,250 from cannabis company FLRISH.

Davis, meanwhile, has raised about $62,000, plus another $28,000 in loans from himself and his mother, spending in excess of $54,000. 

Donors include the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Santa Clara County, the Monterey County Deputy Sheriff's Association PAC (which gave $5,000 last year) and $3,500 from the Peace Officers Research Association of California PAC. 

In addition several current sheriff's deputies have donated, including the current DSA president, Dan Mitchell. Davis also received $5,000 from Trisome Imports, LLC, a San Jose business registered to Mitchell and deputies Joe Martinez and David Mason. 

Fred Garcia—a former commander and candidate for sheriff who resigned in the midst of a 2010 campaign after he was going to be demoted to deputy following an internal investigation into campaign activities—gave $150.  

Even unopposed elections don't come cheap. Assistant District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni is running for District Attorney. With her boss, Dean Flippo, retiring, she is running unopposed, but still reports nearly $10,000 in fundraising, and another $36,000 in loans, from two parties: $15,000 from herself and $21,000 from Chief Assistant DA Berkley Brannon. 

Similarly, Deneen Guss is running unopposed to replace her retiring boss, Monterey County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Kotowski. Guss has raised more than $24,000, including $600 from Kotowski. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add fundraising figures from 2017 for candidates who began fundraising last year for the June 2018 primary. They are Lopez, Gage, Phillips, Tack, Bernal, Davis and Guss. That moves the total raised for this election from $504,000 to $711,000.