TDH: 5/9/11

Heading into the home stretch, big fundraising and spending in Place 3, with incumbent Randi Shade's eight-day-out report showing she raised over $65,000 in the last month. The haul brings her fundraising total to nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Prominent donors included civil rights activist Bertha Means, Lee Leffingwell's wife Julie Byers, and judicial candidate Kurt Kuhn. The filing shows a total of $234,000 raised, over $94,000 spent, and nearly $74,000 left. The single largest expenses are $25,000 in ad buys, coordinated through The Davis Group. Shade also used the occasion to fire some shots at opponent Kathie Tovo, saying "I can't give my campaign $53,000 as my opponent has done, so I depend on this generosity from friends and supporters.”

For her part, Tovo raised just north of $38,000 since April 5, with expenditures exceeding $95,000 and approximately $25,500 in reserves; she indeed bolstered her campaign with an additional $13,000 loan, on top of the $40,000 she previously loaned herself. Environmentalist Mary Arnold, neighborhood activist Jeff Jack, and Chronicle publisher Nick Barbaro are among her high profile contributors. Approximately $30,000 in advertising expenses to Rindy and Associates comprise a major portion of her expenses.

Rounding out the ballot, Max Nofziger raised $2,850 and still has just under $1,000 on hand. Kris Bailey shows fundraising of $1,250, with $1,300 on hand.

You can scope out all the fundraising reports here.

... In other election news, Lone Star Cab Company is offering free rides to the polls on Election Day, May 14, 7am-7pm, for seniors age 60 and older and the wheelchair-bound. 7:00AM to 7:00 PM.

"The service is based on first come first serve bases due to the limited number of vehicles that we have at this time (55 taxicabs)," they write. "The free ride program is limited to the riders from their residence to voting station and back home. A single taxicab may combine two or more riders if the riders live within one to two blocks from each other."

Rides can be requested through May 13, through calling one of the following numbers: (512) 836-4900, (512) 836-4902, (512) 836-4903, or (512) 836-4904.

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