Developers and others in their trade are throwing money into the Gilbert Town Council race, backing the two incumbents who each amassed a sizable campaign war chest going into the Aug. 2 Primary, according to campaign finance statements filed July 15.

Incumbents Scott September and Yung Koprowski and candidates Chuck Bongiovanni, Bobbi Buchli, Jim Torgeson, Bill Spence, Mario Chicas, Michael Clark and Bus Obayomi are vying for the four open seats. September and Koprowski were both appointed in 2020.

The election comes at a time when Gilbert still has about a decade left of growth and development and some candidates are taking a stance against building more high-density apartments in town.

The fact that September and Koprowski have received so much support from the development community has already become campaign fodder for some candidates, who claim they’ve sold out.

September, who sat on the town Planning Commission before his appointment, led candidates with $39,306 raised and $3,486 spent from April 1 to June 30. To date, he’s raised $41,776 and spent $5,856.

His second-quarter donors included $2,000 from Keith Blue of Kinzerini Management in Gilbert, a lessor of residential buildings; $200 from developer Jerry Davis, president of Kaplan Multifamily in Scottsdale; $500 from Mike Hoover, CEO of construction company Sundt Corp. in Scottsdale; $250 from Bruce Hart of developer Vendura Residential in Paradise Valley; $350 from Chris Hundelt of Keystone Homes in Phoenix; $1,500 from Randall Downing of Coal Creek Consulting, which offers wireless development and site modification services in Phoenix and $500 from Walter Crutchfield, a partner with Vintage Partners, a commercial property developer in Phoenix.

Other donors included James Miller, senior vice president with IPX 1031, an investment property exchange, gave $500; Brad Vogelsmeier, a vice president with developer Milhaus in Indianapolis, $500; Sean Milks, owner of Gravity Pad Towers in New Mexico, $500; Michael Kaplan with Kaplan Management real estate in Texas, $250 and Rex Richardson, a vice mayor on the Long Beach City Council, $250.

September also got financial support from employees at his job at Crown Castle International – Daniel Schweizer gave $100 and Brian Thomas gave $250.

A number of land-use attorneys also opened their wallets for September’s campaign.

Attorney Leo Beus of Beus Gilbert McGroder gave $1,000; Pew & Lake lawyers William Pew gave $250; Sean Lake, $250, and Reese Anderson, $250; attorney Andrew Miller of Burch & Crachiollo, $250; Gammage & Burnham lawyers Lindsay Schube gave $200; Ashley Marsh, $150, and Manjula Vaz, $500.

People who gave to both incumbents included Grant Kingdon, a vice president with Creation RE + PE, an investment and real estate group in Phoenix, who gave September and Koprowski each $1,500; Scott Whittington, principal with developer Avalon Investments gave each $1,000.

Gary Free of RE Investment in Utah gave each incumbent $300; developer Andrew Call, vice president with Thompson Thrift, gave each incumbent $500, a real estate developer Jeffrey Kern, with developer Fore Green, gave each incumbent $150; Adelaida Severson of Bushtek, a Gilbert satellite communication company gave each $1,000; Jonathan Cornelius, vice president for Fore Property Co., a real-estate developer gave each $250; Clay Richardson, managing director with Wood Partners, a real estate construction and management company in Scottsdale, gave $200 to each and James Lindbloom of Willmeng, a Phoenix construction company gave each $300.

Withey Morris attorneys Jason Morris gave $1,000 each to September and Koprowski; Adam Baugh gave each $500 and William Allison gave each $125.

Chad Heywood, a partner with political consulting group Camelback Strategy, gave $200 to each incumbent.

Gilbert retiree George Dottl gave $1,200 to September and $1,000 to Koprowski.

September also raised a total of $150 in individual contributions from people who gave $100 or less and he loaned his campaign $10,000.

Political Action Committees also gave heavily to the incumbents with Gilbert Fire Fighters giving each $6,500; Salt River Project Political Involvement Committee giving each $800 and Cox AZ PAC giving each $500.

September spent $3,486 with money going to expenses, including $1,870 to Roundtable Strategies for advertisement; $750 to BW Creative Agency for design; $282 to online fundraising Anedot and $94 to Vistaprint for communication materials.

Koprowski, who is a transportation engineer with her own firm, raised $25,316 in the second quarter, for a total $37,286.

Her donations included $400 from her mother-in-law, Chandler retiree Jane Moisant; $200 from Gilbert retiree Barbara Farmer; $500 from attorney Garry Hays; $200 from Dave Bruggeman with Lee Engineering in Gilbert; $200 from Gilbert architect Cassandra Updike and $500 from Gilbert veterinarian Thomas Lewis.

Her support also included $500 from Elizabeth Dine, a Gilbert Realtor; $200 from Chris Woolery, a civil engineer with Kimley Horn, a planning and design engineering firm; $400 from Caroline Decesare of interior designer Decesare Design Group in Gilbert; $200 from Richard Norman owner of Gilbert Mortgage; $500 from Eric Boivin, CEO of All Traffic Data Services in Colorado and $200 from Valerie Shaffer of Horizon Strategies.

Shaffer was former Mayor Jenn Daniels’ aide and followed Daniels when she left in 2020 for Horizon Strategies, a lobbying firm. Daniels’ firm has helped developers such as Mill Creek Residential, which wants to build a mix-used development with 274 apartment units near Higley and Ray roads. Daniels donated $200 to Koprowski in the first quarter.

Koprowski also received a total $1,460 in individual donations of $100 and less and $2,500 from Realtors of Arizona PAC.

She’s spent $6,871 in the second quarter leaving her with $28,667 in the bank. Her expenditures included $2,262 to Roundtable Strategies for campaign signs; $2,500 to Petrina Lundy for website development and $1,410 to Graphic Ideals for yard signs.

Spence, who spent less than a year on Council as an appointee in 2020, raised $4,374, of which $4,000 was his own money, bringing the total for his election to $5,705.

His donors included David Seigler, executive director of New Horizons Disability Empowerment Center, $100; Intel data scientist Lauren Eccles, $149 and Gilbert retiree Tom Thrasher, $100.

Spence’s $4,227 in expenditures included $3,126 to Print Smart for campaign signs; $74 to Gilbert photographer Elaine Kessler and $1,026 to Arizona Grassroots Advocates for signatures.

Bongiovanni, who’s not taking donations, is self-funding his race , kicking in $25,000 in the second quarter for a total of $32,332. He’s spent $15,889, bringing the total spent so far on his campaign to $23,059.

His spending for the second quarter included $7,743 to Mesa Sign Shop for signs; $3,112 to Nina Construction Supply for rebar; $300 to Gilbert Chamber of Commerce for advertisement; $709 to Clipper Magazine for advertisement; $899 to The Arizona Beehive for advertisement and $1,391 to Times Media Group for advertisement.

Buchli raised $17,100 during the second-quarter for a total of $18,600 so far.

Her donations include $3,000 from Jim Lamon, a Republican running for a U.S. Senate seat; and $500 from retired Scottsdale resident Margaret Clark.

Her $16,514 in second-quarter expenditures included $2,775 to Mesa Sign Shop for signs; $1,159 to Times Media Group for advertisement; $6,518 for communication services from The Resolute Group, a Phoenix company that espouses free enterprise and conservative values and $1,594 to HD Strategic Group, a Queen Creek company that touts, “It’s time to take America back.”

She’s also spent $550 for unspecified professional services from Brittany Sweeney and $100 in event expense from America Pack, a group that Recruit and support Constitutional Conservative candidates.

Chicas raised $12,064 in the second quarter for a total of $12,564.

His donors included Mesa homemaker Mari Anderman, who gave $6,500; real estate agent Paul Bruccoleri gave $1,000; Gilbert Realtor Dana Kaupie gave $250 and Dr. Sol De Jesus of Pennsylvania gave $200.

He also received a total of $964 from donors who each gave less than $100.

Chicas reported that he spent $7,473 but did not itemize his expenditures as the law requires.

Torgeson raised $4,442 in the second quarter with donations coming from Jason Barney, a commercial, industrial and residential land developer, who gave $500 and Dr. Anne Welsh, $100.

Gilbert Councilman Laurin Hendrix, who’s running for a state House seat, gave $2,500 to Chicas and $1,000 to Torgeson and former Gilbert Councilman Jared Taylor gave $150 each to Chicas, Buchli and Torgeson.

His expenditure of $4,442 left him with $834.

Expenses included $3,309 he paid Mesa Sign Shop, which he owns, for promotional materials; $916 to Dan Daniels for sign installation and $217 to Dr. Don’s in Glendale for promotional materials.

Obayomi raised $4,100 and spent $3,000, which was not detailed as required by law.

His big donor was WeSERV Association of Realtors PAC with $2,500. And other big chunk of money came from a self-loan of $1,500.

Clark, who had to take time off from politicking due to a family emergency, did not respond if he intended to file his form.

The next filing is the pre-primary election report, which is due July 23.