Tuesday, May 6, 2008

UPDATED: Plano City Council race shows contrast in campaign contributions

By Alex Bentley

Updated 10:50 a.m., May 7, 2008

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Pat Miner

Justin Nichols

PLANO — The election may not be until Saturday, May 10, but if elections were based on campaign contributions, the race for the Plano City Council Place 1 seat might already be over. Pat Miner has collected over twice the amount of money as his opponent, Justin Nichols -- $10,286 to $4,670.

Interestingly, while all of Miner’s contributions have come from individuals, the majority of Nichols’ contributions came from donors who gave their money to a political action committee (PAC) named Friends of Justin Nichols. The use of a PAC is noteworthy merely for the fact that none of the other local candidates for which Pegasus News has collected data are using one.

Nichols is also receiving the support of the Washington D.C.-based Victory Fund PAC, which specializes in trying to get gay and lesbian candidates elected. Nichols has run into some minor controversy in his current position as Teen Court Coordinator for Collin County, with Collin County Commissioner Jerry Hoagland allegedly trying to have Nichols fired for being gay.

UPDATE: Nichols responded via e-mail Wednesday morning to an inquiry about his use of a PAC. Here is his response:

"We chose to operate a PAC since it was originally an exploratory committee before I decided to run (since 2006). Once the announcement was made the PAC became the operating account for the campaign."

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