Madden out-raises Lyons 7-to-1, with $75K still in bank
Sucette lawyer maxes out to Lyons, $500 to Kreller
RPEC chair maxes (exceeds) limit to Kreller
Danielson gives to Lyons, Discon, Kreller
Former mayor gives to Discon, Kreller
Lyons, Discon finance reports contain math errors
Rosenthal has yet to file
MANDEVILLE — The 30-day campaign finance reporting deadline was February 22nd and so far it appears that Mayor Clay Madden sits atop the 2024 pack of candidates money-wise, out-raising candidate Jeff Lyons seven-to-one and outspending him 11-to-one, according to reports submitted by candidates to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program’s campaign finance portal.
The incumbent Madden is also reporting $75,788.94 “on hand” or in the bank at the close of the reporting period, while Lyons has only $4,472.44, according to a Mandeville Daily line-by-line tally of Lyons’ expenditures vs. receipts reported to the state.
Lyons and at-large candidate Scott Discon’s reports would appear to have discrepancies between their cover page summaries and the data contained within the reports. This likely can be attributed to addition or subtraction errors or accidental line item omissions that weren’t corrected in the summaries.
Candidate for mayor Billy Rosenthal has yet to file his report, according to a spokesperson with the State Ethics Administration Program today (February 27th). The deadline for the 30-Day reports was February 22nd. Candidates are only required to file the report if they receive a donation over $200, excluding personal funds, or spend more than $2,500 in the aggregate, according to the spokesperson.
Sucette Harbor project attorney Paul Harrison’s law firm gave $1,000 to Lyons and as previously reported, gave $500 to District II Councilman Dr. Skelly Kreller on the night of the Planning & Zoning Commission’s 4-3 vote to recommend Sucette Harbor to the City Council April 17th, 2023.
St. Tammany Republican Parish Executive Committee Chairman Josh Allison gave $1,500 to Kreller, with $1,000 of that coming the night of the P&Z Sucette Harbor vote.
The St. Tammany RPEC endorsement forum is scheduled for tonight (February 27th) at 6 p.m. inside the Parish Council chambers at the St. Tammany Administrative Complex, located at 21490 Koop Drive in Mandeville.
According to a spokesperson with the State Ethics Administration Program, Kreller will have to return $500 back to Allison and $500 back to another donor because they exceeded the maximum contribution limit of $1,000 per election.
The spokesperson with the state said this happens routinely due to the nature of political campaigns spanning many months and many fundraiser events. Madden also exceeded the limit with one of his donors this election and will have to return that money as well.
Lame-duck Councilman at Large Rick Danielson donated $250 each to Lyons, Kreller and Discon.
Former mayor Donald Villere gave $1,000 to Discon and $500 to Kreller.
Outspoken Sucette Harbor opponents Larry and Kathleen Grundmann gave $400 to Vogeltanz, $400 to Burguières, and $200 to Zuckerman. Other critics of the project gave varying amounts to Zuckerman, Burguières, and Vogeltanz, but none totaled more than what the Grundmann’s gave, as best Mandeville Daily can determine.
Sucette Harbor proponent Rhonda Alleman who lobbied various council members to support the project during the lead-up to the final vote September 5th donated $500 to Discon and $250 to Kreller.
The next campaign reports are due 10 days prior to the March 23rd election. Each candidate’s unaltered forms to date are available here for public inspection as well as on the campaign finance portal:
Disclosure: Mandeville Daily Editor Emeritus William Kropog donated $100 to each of the following candidates, in alphabetical order: Burguières, Discon, Madden, and Vogeltanz.
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Mandeville Daily 