According to the News-Press, Rafi Manoukian had, as of Feb. 17, spent $68,171 out of a campaign chest of $165,368. (The News-Press indicated that $92,311 had been raised during the current campaign period, and $68,171 had been spent, yet $97,197 still remained, permitting me to infer that $73,057 was left over from past fund-raising efforts, which, thus, enables me to reach the total of $165,368.)
This man, who has raised and spent more than twice as much as any of his opponents, reportedly complained that costs of running a campaign have gone up. I don't imagine there are tears of sympathy from his opponents, who are seeing Manoukian drive up the spending bar in Glendale by his own remorseless spending. What is this man doing with the money? It seems that $100,000 would buy enough placards and mailers to saturate every neighborhood in Glendale a dozen times over.
Manoukian was quoted as saying, "Everything's costing twice as much in terms of the campaign itself." It's as if elections in Glendale are now a commodity that you buy and sell.
