Two Fort Worth mayor candidates boast deep pockets as others rely on small donations
Two candidates vying to be Fort Worth’s next mayor have roughly $500,000 each in the bank, dwarfing other opponents.
Councilman Brian Bryd’s campaign reported Thursday a little more than $500,000 on hand while Mattie Parker had a little less than $470,000. Parker’s campaign has brought in nearly $654,000 in contributions.
Meanwhile, Councilwoman Ann Zadeh reported $134,420 on hand while Deborah Peoples, chairwoman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, had a little more than $41,000 in the bank. Steve Penate, a real estate broker, had $14,588.
The first round of campaign finance reports for the May 1 election were due by 5 p.m. Thursday, but the city’s website had not updated information for all candidates. Byrd, Parker, Penate, Peoples and Zadeh are five of the 10 candidates running for Fort Worth mayor.
Byrd, a physician and Fort Worth Councilman, had taken in more than $245,800 in contributions, boasting in a campaign statement that he had more than 200 donors. Byrd’s campaign also had $300,000 in loans, according to his financial report. He has spent a little more than $212,000.
“This campaign has reached out to every corner of Fort Worth, working hard to incorporate every resident into the vision of what our city could become over the next decades ahead and beyond,” he said in the statement. “This fundraising milestone is a representation of how much our message resonates with voters and how eager they are to put an experienced leader at the helm who can steer us into the most prosperous time in Fort Worth history.”
While Parker reported no loans, her filing showed large donations, including $10,000 from Hillwood president Mike Berry.
Parker, a former chief of staff for Mayor Betsy Price, has been endorsed by several prominent citizens, including Price and members of the Bass family. Her major contributors were political action committees related to the Basses, including the Good Government Fund, which provided her campaign with $50,000.
The Peoples campaign had spent just under $55,850 as of Thursday and had a little more than $41,000 in the bank. She had brought in more than $100,000, largely from small donations.
Her campaign, in a statement, boasted of more than 1,00 individual contributions. The average donation was $62.
“We have much more work to do, but it’s clear that Deborah Peoples for Mayor has far and away the most individual supporters with nearly 1,000 contributions, the most grassroots support, and the most room to grow going into May first and beyond,” campaign manager Kathleen Hicks said.
Zadeh has spent about $60,870, according to her financial report. A little less than $95,000 of her total has come from contributions.
Chris Rector showed no campaign contributions, but had spent $100 of his personal money. Cedric C. Kanyinda reported no cash on hand or contributions.
Other campaign finance reports in the mayoral race were not available later Thursday. Other candidates who returned a Star-Telegram question described their major donors as:
▪ Daniel “DC” Caldwell: Myself, Mike White, anyone else
▪ Mike Haynes: God, Jesus and Mike Haynes
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
