Most, but not all, campaign war chests have fattened up in the race to November 8 for the four candidates running for two seats on the Goleta City Council. The four have raised a combined $173,300 so far in the hope of influencing roughly 9,700 registered voters in the city’s first set of district elections. The two districts in the eastern half of the city — District 1 in the Patterson to Glen Annie quadrant north of the 101, and District 2 in the Patterson to Storke Road area south of the highway — each have an incumbent running against a newcomer, but what the finance reports show is that it pays to have the Democratic Party endorsement and to be an incumbent.
In the lead in overall fundraising is James Kyriaco, which is not suprising. Kyriaco knows the ropes not only as a four-year Goleta City Councilmember but from his onetime job title as a political campaign manager. Endorsed by the Dems, he’s raised a total of $60,000 in the race for District 2, a six-to-one advantage over his rival Sam Ramirez, who raised $10,900.
Ramirez is a relative newcomer to Goleta, and the majority of his supporters are from the Bakersfield area, where he was a Delano city councilmember. The exception is the Goleta Chamber of Commerce, which gave $1,000 to his campaign.