During the 2007 mayoral campaign, former city council member Ed Oakley sent out mailers depicting himself and convicted felon Don Hill as Democrats and Tom Leppert and former Mayor Pro Tem Max Wells as Republicans. Oakley also accepted the endorsement of the Dallas County Democratic Party and printed thousands of door hangers identifying Leppert as a Republican in the weeks prior to the June runoff election.
In short, his attempt to turn what's supposed to be a nonpartisan race into a battle between blue and red backfired.
It's far too early in this year's race to determine whether political affiliations will become a factor, but one thing is clear: Two of the candidates are decidedly partisan. While council member Ron Natinsky has contributed just $250 to partisan officeholders (a donation to Republican state Senator John Carona in 2006), he's been a regular attendee at Republican functions throughout the county for several years, including Election Day watch parties sponsored by the Dallas County Republican Party.
Mike Rawlings, on the other hand, has contributed nearly $85,000 to various candidates and committees since 1992, according to an Unfair Park analysis, with more than 88 percent of that dough spent on Democratic causes. As you can see above, the former CEO of Pizza Hut and TracyLocke appeared in an ad for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White, who received more than $14,000 from Rawlings. A significant chunk of his donations ($32,950) were given to federal Democratic committees, and contributions were also made to Democrats Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Royce West.
David Kunkle has publicly claimed to have voted for candidates from both parties and has no history of donating to campaigns.
After the jump, Rawlings's lengthy list of contributions.
Democratic candidates and committees:
8-31-92 Democratic National Committee $2,000
4-7-94 Richard Fisher (lost to Kay Bailey Hutchison when she was elected to her first full U.S. Senate term, current president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas) $1,000
6-30-94 Richard Fisher $1,000
10-17-95 Bill Clinton $1,000
12-13-93 Jim Mattox $500
11-25-97 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee $5,000
12-31-97 Martin Frost $250
6-29-99 Regina Montoya Coggins (lost to Pete Sessions in 2000 when he was elected to his third term in the U.S. House) $1,000
12-15-99 Martin Frost $250
6-23-00 Regina Montoya Coggins $1,000
1-18-02 Martin Frost $500
2-25-02 Ron Kirk $1,000
6-26-02 Ron Chapman (former U.S. House candidate) $1,000
9-5-02 Ron Kirk $1,000
9-17-02 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $4,000
9-26-02 Texas for John Sharp $1,000
2-19-03 Martin Frost $250
10-18-06 Chris Bell (gubernatorial candidate) $500
2-14-07 John Edwards $2,100
4-24-07 Barack Obama $2,300
7-13-07 Royce West $500
9-26-07 Tom Harkin (U.S. Senator from Iowa) $2,280
10-20-08 Democratic National Committee $11,950
10-24-08 Barack Obama $2,300
2-23-09 Harry Reid $2,400
3-15-09 Al Franken $1,000
6-15-09 Bill White $1,000
6-30-09 Eric Johnson $200
6-30-09 ActBlue Texas $200
9-4-09 Eric Johnson $250
11-25-09 Democratic National Committee $10,000
12-30-09 Bill White $5,000
12-31-09 ActBlue Texas $500
12-31-09 Eric Johnson $500
3-25-10 Chet Edwards $1,000
4-28-10 Bill White $3,282.82
9-22-10 Bill White $5,000
10-23-10 Chet Edwards $1,000
Republican candidates and committees:
10-16-95 Lamar Alexander (former presidential candidate and current U.S. Senator from Tennessee) $250
3-23-99 George W. Bush $1,000
10-23-01 Texans for Kenn George $1,000
7-9-03 George W. Bush $2,000
4-6-07 John McCain $2,300
Nonpartisan candidates and committees (since July 2008):
2-11-09 Enough is Enough $1,000
5-21-10 Re-Elect Tom Leppert $1,000
11-19-10 Delia Jasso $250
12-31-10 Ann Margolin $1,000
Breakdown:
$58,080 in federal donations to Democrats
$5,550 in federal donations to Republicans
$16,932.82 in state donations to Democrats
$1,000 in state donations to Republicans
$3,250 in city donations
$75,012.82 total donations to Democrats
$6,550 total donations to Republicans
$3,250 total donations to nonpartisan
$84,812.82 total donations
