Norco executive candidates Giovanni, Zrinski start fall campaign with roughly same amount of cash
The campaign committees for the Northampton County executive candidates have about the same amount of money in their bank accounts heading into the fall campaign, according to their most recent campaign finance reports.
Republican Tom Giovanni has a slight edge in cash over his Democratic opponent, Tara Zrinski, $4,929 to $4,327, as of June 16, the end of the post-primary reporting period. The election will be Nov. 4.
Giovanni, a county commissioner who has represented District 4 for the last six years, was unopposed in the May 20 primary and did not need to raise much money in the first half of the year.
Zrinski, the county controller and a former county commissioner, won a contested primary battle over Amy Cozze in which she raised $90,600 and spent $86,273.
In the most recent reporting period from May 6 to June 16, Zrinski’s committee also listed $13,428 in bills to be paid, including $10,500 to 4V Partners, a media consultant in Washington, D.C., and $2,207 to Deliver Strategies, a political strategy firm in Alexandria, Virginia.
Major contributors to Zrinski included $2,000 from the Friends of Josh Siegel, the campaign committee of the Allentown state representative and the Democratic nominee for Lehigh County executive; $5,000 from Lamont 4 Exec, the campaign committee for Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, whose decision to run for the 7th District Congressional District seat next year created an opening for Zrinski and Cozze to seek their party’s nomination for the county office; and $5,000 from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542 PAC. McClure and the union each contributed $5,000 earlier during the primary campaign, which brought their total contributions to $10,000 each.
Giovanni’s campaign committee had $7,984 available for the primary. His committee spent a total of $3,054, including $1,259 to Kemmerer Graphics from Nazareth for campaign signs and $1,795 to reimburse Giovanni for expenses for a fundraiser and supplies.
His committee raised and spent money only during the first reporting period from Jan. 1-May 6. Major contributors included McNees PAC ($500), which has contributed to Democratic and Republican candidates (the PAC is affiliated with the Harrisburg law firm of McNees Wallace & Nurick); Friends of John Paul Goffredo ($1,000), who is seeking reelection to his at-large county council seat this year; Lehigh Valley developer Lewis Pektor III ($1,000); and Allentown developer Nat Hyman ($500).