Shining Light on the Eagle Council Race

Who's donating to whom?

The Sunshine report at the Idaho Secretary of State’s website is one of the most interesting tools to utilize during election season. You can see who donates to whom, which political action committees (PACs) are flush with cash, and where candidates spend their money. Sometimes this yields political insights, such as when a big donor or a PAC that usually donates to Democrats suddenly throws money behind a registered Republican.

Today I would like to take a look at the campaign finance reports for the five declared candidates for Eagle City Council. The top two vote getters next month will replace outgoing council members Brad Pike and Charlie Baun. I’ll examine each candidate in alphabetical order, drawing insights from their campaign finance history.

Keep in mind that candidates have not yet filed their October reports, so we won’t know until then how many other small donations have come in this month.

Christopher Hadden

Hadden has made a small name for himself on local social media as a political commentator and activist. He ran for mayor in 2019, gaining 840 votes for 11.3% of the vote. He has spent the subsequent four years attacking the mayor and council and boosting such efforts by Stan Ridgeway’s SOS Eagle organization. He claims to be a true conservative, but is very close to local Democrats such as Shelley Brock.

As a donor, Hadden has been fairly quiet, with contributions to Sheriff Matt Clifford and Rep. Ted Hill as well as an Ada County GOP event. As a candidate, Hadden’s only recorded donations have come from Jane Kramer and Janet Buschert, both of whom donate almost exclusively to Democrats. Buschert and her husband Russ are Democrat megadonors, having given more than $122,000 to left-wing candidates and PACs over the last few years. In fact, the Buscherts have been remarkably consistent in that they do not donate to Republicans or conservatives, period.

Hadden’s treasurer is Wendy Klesack, who appears to be a relation.

Robert Imhoff

Imhoff moved to Eagle from the San Jose area sometime after 2018. He had been active in the Libertarian Party in California and continued that involvement in Idaho, running against Sen. C. Scott Grow on the Libertarian ticket last year. (Grow defeated Imhoff and a Constitution Party candidate with more than 81% of the vote.)

As a donor, Imhoff has given several in-kind contributions to the Libertarian Party of Idaho, as well as to his own campaign. As a candidate, Imhoff has loaned himself $4,500, with no other donations recorded at this time. As befits someone running under the Libertarian banner, Imhoff appears to occupy his own lane, without strong connections to either major party.

Imhoff is acting as his own treasurer.

Craig Kvamme

Kvamme has not run for elected office before, though he has served on municipal committees in Eagle. As donors, he and his family have given to the Ada County GOP as well as Ed Humphreys’ gubernatorial primary campaign. Kvamme has loaned money to himself and has donated to fellow candidates Jason Pierce and Mary May.

As a candidate, Kvamme has received just over $20,000, about a third of which is loaned from himself. My wife and I donated a small amount to his campaign. Some of his big donations come from organizations such as SEM Consulting, Showalter Construction, and Burdge Aerospace. Kvamme also received the maximum from Cindy Zasio, who along with her husband Kevin supports conservative Republican candidates.

Kvamme’s treasurer is Steve Bender, who also served as treasurer for Helen Russell’s 2021 campaign for city council as well as the Ada County GOP from 2020-2022 and the Idaho Republican Party from 2022 to the present.

Mary May

May has served on numerous civic boards, most recently being elected to the Ada County Highway District in 2018. She lost her bid for reelection to former Eagle council member Miranda Gold last year. As a donor, May has given to Republican candidates such as Scott Bedke, Phil McGrane, and Rod Beck.

As a candidate, May has raised more than $25,000, with many small donations (including some from my wife and I) and a few large ones. Big donors include BCASWI Inc and the Idaho Association of Realtors, the latter of which donates large sums to incumbents and front runners. May is also supported by the Zasios.

May’s treasurer is her daughter Molly.

Both Mary May and Craig Kvamme received endorsements from the District 14 Republicans, of which I am secretary.

Christina Patterson

Patterson has not run for elected office before, as far as I know. She has only two donations recorded, to the Ada County Democrats and a Democrat candidate for Legislature. As a candidate, Patterson has raised just over $2,500, mostly from small donors along with $500 each from Janet Buschert and local Democratic precinct committeewoman Mary Ann Hunter.

Patterson’s treasurer is Mari Gates, who is also running for West Ada School Board. Both Patterson and Gates are receiving support from the District 14 Democrats.

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So what have we learned? I think there are some interesting perspectives to draw from who donates to whom. Many large donations can indicate confidence among political veterans of a successful campaign, while many small donations demonstrate a candidate who is good at selling his or her message. Candidates with very few donations, or who are entirely self-financed, tend to be outsiders or neophytes who don’t usually have a strong chance of victory (but they sometimes surprise everyone!)

It’s easy to do the same deep dive on your own local candidates. Visit the Sunshine webpage and put in some names. You might learn some interesting things!