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Spending report: Victorino paid D.C.-based media consultant $50K

Cochran’s largest expenditure was just under $3,000 during same period in Maui County mayoral race

Victorino

Mike Victorino has been ramping up his research and marketing efforts in the lead-up to Tuesday’s general election, including spending $50,000 on a Washington, D.C., media consulting firm, his largest expenditure so far this year, campaign spending reports show.

Victorino, who is running against Elle Cochran for mayor of Maui County, reported a surplus of $38,205.81 as of Oct. 22, while Cochran had a surplus of $13.25. The candidates’ spending reports, filed Oct. 29, covered Aug. 12 to Oct. 22.

Victorino and Cochran finished first and second, respectively, among seven mayoral candidates during the Aug. 11 primary. Victorino collected 13,556 votes, or 39.8 percent, while Cochran drew 10,439 votes, or 30.6 percent.

On the day after the primary, Victorino reported having $13,586.91 on hand and brought in $179,448.07 over the next two months for a total of $193,034.98. Of that, he spent $134,829.17. He also owed $20,000. Cochran, meanwhile, began with $3,643.41 as of Aug. 12 and brought in $29,545.77 for a total of $33,189.18. Of that, she spent $33,175.93.

During that time period, six donors contributed the maximum $4,000 to Victorino’s campaign: retiree Susan Kobayashi of Honolulu; Kobayashi Group partner and managing director Bert Kobayashi Jr. of Honolulu; Maui Petroleum Chief Executive Officer James Haynes Jr. of Kahului; Anaergia President Arun Sharma of Carlsbad, Calif.; the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association; and Jim Falk Motors of Maui.

Cochran

Cochran’s largest donations were of $2,000 each from Honolulu lawyer and former lieutenant governor candidate Kim Coco Iwamoto; retiree George Chyz of Haiku; and MTP Operating Company LLC, doing business as Maui Tropical Plantation.

Victorino’s largest expenditures included two $25,000 payments to Washington, D.C.-based Sage Media Planning for media consulting services; $16,745 for digital advertising services from another D.C. firm, Hamburger Gibson Creative; and $10,375 to Los Angeles-based FM3 Research for market research for polling. He also paid Aiea-based Pono Media Consulting a total of $7,527.22.

Before the primary, Victorino’s largest single expenditure had been a $10,966.83 payment on July 16 for advertising in the Fil-Am Observer.

Cochran’s largest expenditures were for advertising: $2,982.60 to Pacific Radio Group in Kahului for 60-second radio ads, $2,427.10 to Polyphonic Industries in Wailuku for filming and editing, and $2,391.66 to the FilAm Voice in Wailuku for full-page ads. Cochran’s largest single expenditure this year was a $6,203.37 payment to the FilAm Voice on Feb. 22 for seven months of full-page ads.

In other expenses during the Aug. 12 to Oct. 22 reporting period, Victorino paid $7,089.81 for food and beverages and $5,209.14 for rent for his Wailuku campaign headquarters. Cochran spent a total of $1,297.46 on food and beverages and $2,083.32 on two months’ worth of rent for her Wailuku headquarters.

Maui County Council candidates who faced off in the primary also filed reports for the same time period.

• West Maui: Primary front-runner Tamara Paltin reported a surplus of $9,226.61, while Rick Nava had a deficit of $5,002.05. Paltin began the reporting period with $8,871.87, brought in an additional $5,901.52 and spent $5,546.78. Nava began with $413.42, brought in $2,975 and spent $5,193.35. He owed $3,197.12.

• Kahului: Primary front-runner Natalie “Tasha” Kama had a surplus of $1,098.36, while Mayor Alan Arakawa had a surplus of $44,146.16. Kama began the reporting period with $20.41, brought in $17,616.70 and spent $16,538.75. Arakawa started with $55,754.17, brought in $32,750 and spent $44,358.01.

• Makawao-Haiku-Paia: Primary front-runner Mike Molina had a surplus of $10,043.66, while Trinette Furtado had a deficit of $3,942.27. Molina started the reporting period with $8,459.73, brought in $9,130 and spent $7,546.07. Furtado started with $3,772.79, brought in $4,829.19 and spent $4,644.25, but owed a debt of $7,900.

• Molokai: Incumbent and primary front-runner Stacy Crivello had a surplus of $4,268.44, while challenger Keani Rawlins-Fernandez had a surplus of $10,157.83. Crivello started the reporting period with $5,581.74, brought in $16,983 and spent $18,296.30. Rawlins-Fernandez started with $12,905.04, brought in $21,828.35 and spent $23,737.90. She owed $837.66.

Council candidates who went straight to the general election filed reports covering Jan. 1 to Oct. 22.

• Wailuku-Waikapu-Waihee: Incumbent Alika Atay reported a deficit of $212.25, while challenger Alice Lee had a surplus of $9,023.46. Atay began the reporting period with $6,454.16, brought in $19,292.20 and spent $18,458.61. He owed $7,500. Lee began with no funds, brought in $54,035 and spent $45,011.54.

• East Maui: Claire Carroll reported a surplus of $12,264.96, while Shane Sinenci had a surplus of $3,075.89. Both candidates started with no funds; Carroll brought in $22,217 and spent $7,952.04, but owed $2,000. Sinenci brought in $10,400.04 and spent $7,324.15.

• Upcountry: Incumbent Yuki Lei Sugimura had a surplus of $33,972.67, while challenger Hannibal Starbuck had $286.57. Sugimura began with $27,078.52, brought in $45,898.75 and spent $39,004.60. Starbuck started with a deficit of $5, brought in $7,787.79 and spent $7,496.22.

• South Maui: Incumbent Kelly King had a surplus of $1,604.89 as of Oct. 22. (King did not file a report for Jan. 1 to Oct. 22 but filed four separate reports that covered this period.) On Jan. 1, King had $237.88 on hand. From then until Oct. 22, she brought in $18,222.27 and spent $14,845.26. As of Oct. 22, she owed $2,010. Meanwhile, challenger Zandra Amaral Crouse had a surplus of $1,487.27 for the Jan. 1 to Oct. 22 reporting period. Crouse began with no funds, brought in $8,060.48 and spent $3,923.73. She owed $2,649.48.

• Lanai: Incumbent Riki Hokama reported a surplus of $59,329.12, while challenger Gabe Johnson had a surplus of $1,733.60. Hokama began the reporting period with $56,336.40, brought in $42,880 and spent $37,827.31. He owed $2,059.97. Johnson started with $197.27, brought in $10,282.64 and spent $8,746.31.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

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