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SALT LAKE CITY — Candidates seeking Salt Lake City's mayoral and council seats are putting the pedal to the metal when it comes to finance spending in the final weeks leading up to next week's election, new campaign finance report data shows.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall reported spending $154,086.77 in campaign finances between Oct. 20 and Tuesday, the last campaign finance deadline ahead of the upcoming election. That's on top of another $110,880.60 between the Oct. 6 and Oct. 19 filing period, accounting for nearly 40% of all campaign spending since February 2022, according to the city's reporting system.
Not to be outdone, former Mayor Rocky Anderson reported spending $166,073.19 in total over the past two filing periods, a little more than 40% of all his campaign financing since 2022. Anderson joined the race in November 2022, blasting the current administration for its handling of homelessness issues and crime.
"We've been headed in the wrong direction for a long time, but it can be turned around to where it is the best city to live in North America," he said in a televised debate last month.
Mendenhall deflected the criticism in the debate, pointing to successes like the city's population growth, downtown's strong post-COVID-19 recovery and the buzz over a potential Winter Olympic bid and two new major sports teams as signs the city is heading in the right direction.
"We are not perfect, but we are pretty great," she said at the time.
The recent campaign spending in both cases mostly went toward increased television, radio, newspaper and online advertising, as well as the mailers that have flooded residents' inboxes in recent weeks in one last push to woo voters before the election. It's also gone to campaign staff salary.
While on a smaller scale, community activist Michael Valentine also reported expenses tied to campaign signs, emails and events. Valentine said he joined the race in an effort to make the mayoral office more transparent. He's also been vocal about the city's handling of affordable housing and homelessness issues.
City Council candidates in districts 4, 6 and 7, where there are contested elections, are also spending what's left in their reserves on campaign ads and mailers leading up to Tuesday's election, according to the finance reports.
The city is using ranked-choice voting for its second straight municipal election, but this year marks the first time it's been used for a mayoral race.
Ballots were mailed out to registered voters at the end of October. All ballots must be postmarked by Monday or dropped off at a county dropoff box by 8 p.m. on Tuesday. A list of dropoff box locations in Salt Lake County can be found here.
Residents who are registered to vote can also do so in person from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. A list of voting locations in Salt Lake County can be found here.
