Follow the money

The campaign finance disclosures for the 87th state house race are a hoot. It sure seems our list of candidates likes to keep it in the family.
 
Brian Reynolds's finance filing, a very brief five-page affair, indicates that he has raised $600 thus far, $300 of which was from his brother and himself.  You might think that puts him way behind the 8 ball, fund-raising-wise, but some of the other candidates are in a similar boat...
 
Frank Campbell has asked for and has been given a waiver. This means he cannot receive or spend any more than $1000 in the entire election cycle.  That pretty much removes Frank as a serious contender, if ever he was.

Then if you look at Susan Vlietstra's 11 page filing you'll see that she has raised $2700, all but $100 of it from herself or her in-laws.  Not a bad chunk of change but not nearly as much as our early frontrunner...
 
The real eye-opener is Brian Calley's 65 page filing. The Portland politician makes a big deal of having a war chest of almost $30,000.  While it is true that he has several large contributions, they mostly are from his own pocket.  He lists cash contributions totaling nearly $20,000 from himself and his wife, in-kind contributions from himself of nearly $10,000. Another notable contributor is his parents who cut him a check for $1,000. Mr. Calley also seems to have used his banking connections to nuzzle up to the industry PACs who have cut some nice checks for which they will probably be handsomely rewarded should Calley end up winning the seat. Something tells me this guy's favorite character in "It's a Wonderful Life" is Mr. Potter...