Scott Wagman lends his St. Petersburg mayoral campaign $40,000, raises $36,000

ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayoral hopeful Scott Wagman poured $40,000 into his campaign in recent months and raised $36,000.

The amount is respectable, but it is less than the $54,000 Wagman, a real estate investor, earned in the last fundraising quarter.

His overall fundraising total is roughly $150,000.

Fundraising frontrunner Deveron Gibbons raised roughly $113,000 during the last period. He has not submitted his updated report, which is due Friday.

Wagman received $500 from insurance agency AGIS. Alma Ayala, senior vice president of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, gave $50. The Craig and Jane Sher Family Partnership gave $500. Former Deputy Mayor Michael Dove gave $100. State Rep. Bill Heller, D-St. Petersburg, gave $250. District 5 candidate Steve Kornell gave $20. Rep. Janet Long, D-Seminole, gave $250.

He spent $61,539, most of it on staffing and campaign services.

Other reports have also begun to trickle into City Hall.

Mayoral hopeful Richard Eldridge reported a $415 loan to his campaign, most of which he spent on the city's $250 qualifying fee.

City Council challengers were the only other candidates to file their reports so far.

In District 4, educator Pamella Settlegoode reported a $1,347 kitty. She gave her campaign roughly $170.

A Democrat facing Republican City Council member Leslie Curran, Settlegoode picked up some cash from local party leaders. Printer Jason Diviki is also running for the seat.

Mayoral hopeful Ed Helm donated $100 to Settlegoode's campaign. The Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee gave her $200 and committee chairman Ramsey McLauchlan gave $50. Steve Lapinsky, campaign manager for District 5 candidate Steve Kornell, gave $20.

Settlegoode spent $1,111, mostly on campaign literature.

In District 6, former city employee Vel Thompson raised $1,993 and spent $961, mostly to cover her campaign kickoff event. She loaned her campaign $860.

Thompson faces City Council member Karl Nurse and student Derrick Frohne. Nurse has not filed his report, but he said he raised roughly $15,000.

Those races will appear on the September ballot.

In District 2, retired police chief Stephen Corsetti collected $1,460 and spent $805, mostly on campaign signs and filing fees. His wife, Jean Corsetti, gave him $500. He loaned his campaign $500.

He faces City Council member Jim Kennedy in the November general election.

Cristina Silva, Times staff writer

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Comments

[Campaign Manager]

Some of the early comments made by Wagman’s campaign set expectations unreasonably high, but I don’t think it’s fair to call to $36,000 raised in a bad economy, with a crowded primary field, with $500 limits and for a the mayoral race of a relatively small city to be “underwhelming.” It’s a solid result. He may be outraised by Deveron, and possibly even some others, but surely making judgment like “underwhelming” is inappropriate.

[saintpetersblog]

36K in this climate is actually pretty good. The mistake was when the campaign set the standard for $500K. So, yes, it is underwhelming.

[Someone in FL]

Hey Scott,

I got a flyer from your campaign. I'm not impressed. Go back to the country club. Your not buying this race.

[Kate$]

"He spent $61,539, most of it on staffing and campaign services."

Dang... Kates is raking it in from the doink!

[Im Impressed $]

Someone go back to your hole, anyone who raises 36K and invests in himself is not buying anyone... don't be such a jealous hater.

and when is it so bad to have a goal, if mr. wagman wants to set the bar high, then i think that is the type of person who would make an excellent mayor. quite spinning it the other way as he is failing, but striving...

[Tootsie Roll]

I understand Ed Helm asked Pamela for the $100 back when she would not endorse him!

[Tootsie Roll]

To the Deveron campaign: You cannot buy respect.

[Pelican Pete]

At the rate the WAGman campaign is spending money, they will need to raise every bit of that $500,000.

I sure hope Mitch isn't the only one who benefits from it.

[Pelican Pete]

At the rate the WAGman campaign is spending money, they will need to raise every bit of that $500,000.

I sure hope Mitch isn't the only one who benefits from it.

[Reality check]

Actually. With a big tv buy, you can buy a lot of credibility.

[Dave]

He is spending too fast - lending too much money also. You need donors!

[Letterman]

Doners!... in this economy... in St. Pete? Please... nothing left but to do your best or sell out.

[Uncle Ben]

Well, I think that this spells the death knell for the Wagman campaign. The only winners there are Mitch, Larry and Toni - they got the $ and Scott got the shaft.

[sw]

$cott Wagman still needs $1 million to finish third. Sorry.

[BB]

Wagman's campaign set the standard-or as Campaign Manager would call it, unreasonably high expectations– that got him tagged the Half-Million Dollar Man.

It's fine to set goals. It's OK to fall short. It's wiser to set goals you can achieve. I'm not seeing that wisdom. If it is lacking in his campaign, what would his administration look like at City Hall?

Wagman is new to politics, so some naivete can be forgiven. At the same time, a leader is often, and rightfully judged by his trusted advisors. Once again, I'm not seeing the wisdom. I'm just seeing a whole lot of money going into the pockets of ill-equipped advisors.

[Obama bought the presidency]

If you think raising a large amount of money for the campaign is "buying" the race then that makes Obama someone who bought his presidency? What a screwed messed up thought that is. Unfortunately, it takes money to run a campaign and people who give money to candidates only do so to show their support. This is one sign of their belief in a candidate they want to put into office. So cheers to Wagman who's gained support from the constituents of St. Pete. Good job Kates.

[David]

I saw an e-mail yesterday saying Charlie Crist is having a big St Pete fundraiser in September at the home of Tim Higham. It turns out that Higham is also the finance chair behind Deveron Gibbons record making fundraising efforts for Mayor.

I hear that Higham is one of the wealthiest people in St Pete with a very low profile and a national trucking and software business headquartered here and with operations in all 50 states.

It is the likes of Higham and Al Austin's (for Crist) that keep the pump primed to REACH the voters. I am even seeing Gibbons TV ads on TV now!!! Wagman and the others need to do more of that (TV) if they want to have a chance.

[Alex Haak]

What happen to the 1/2 million Scott, or are you just warming up, you will need it to keep on buying your staff and hand klappers during the public forums !!!
"tell it like it is Alex Haak"

[Just observing]

Well, let's see. There's Gibbons, a black republican, Foster, a right winger,Ford, an angry feminist,Williams,another ultra conservative, and then Wagman, an extraordinary businessman, family man, community advocate and visionary. Seems to be the choice is obvious,but, only time will tell if the voters choose intelligently or not.