PAC Contributions Top $30K In Tuscaloosa City Council Race

TUSCALOOSA, AL — It's a little more than a week before voters in Tuscaloosa will once again cast ballots to decide who will be the next occupant of the District 7 seat on the Tuscaloosa City Council.

The race will see former incumbent Sonya McKinstry try to win a rematch against challenger Cassius Lanier, who won the election on March 2 by 28 votes, only to see the results thrown out due to his eligibility to qualify ahead of the deadline.

As with other races during the recent cycle, a consistent talking point has been the contributions of various political action committees (PACs). Lanier has wielded a noticeable advantage in this respect, more than doubling McKinstry's PAC contributions since Jan. 1.

ALSO READ: Virtual District 7 City Council Candidate Forum Set For Thursday

Patch took a look at campaign finance reports in the days ahead of the election to get a renewed viewpoint of fundraising and spending before the ballots are cast.

Cassius Lanier

• $3,000 in total reported contributions in July, along with $2,125.17 in total expenditures
• Lanier has received just short of $8,000 in contributions from political action committees since the March 2 election including: Fire and Rescue PAC ($2,000 on March 21), Alabama Realtors PAC ($2,877.88 on May 21), ET PAC ($1,000 on June 10), Cash PAC ($1,000 on June 23), and ET PAC ($1,000 On June 18).
• Since Jan. 1, Lanier has received $21, 377.88 from eight different PACs, with the largest single contributions coming in the amount of $5,000 from Future PAC and Alabama Realtors PAC.
• Worth noting: Druid City Properties has been far and away the biggest corporate contributor to Lanier's campaign coffers, giving $7,000 spread out over two different payouts this campaign season.

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Sonya McKinstry

• $3,936 in total reported contributions in July, along with $4,090 in expenditures.
• McKinstry has received one donation from a political action committee since the March 2 election, coming in the amount of $2,200 from BIZPAC in June.
• Since Jan 1, McKinstry has received $9,180 from four different PACs, with the largest single contribution coming early on in the campaign from CRA PAC in the amount of $3,400. Other contributors include Free Enterprise PAC ($2,425) and WIN PAC ($2,000).
• Worth noting: While her biggest contributions have come from political action committees, she has also received public support from candidates who ran in the previous campaign cycle, as she reported $100 donations from former mayoral candidate Serena Fortenberry and former District 1 City Council candidate Que Chandler.

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