A combined $251,000 has been raised so far by Rhodesia Ransom and Bob Elliott in their respective bids to represent Manteca south of Yosemite Avenue, Tracy, and Mountain House on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.
Elliott holds a slight edge in fundraising having collected $124,365.40 from 360 donors as of Sept. 30. Ransom has collected $121,842.40 from 148 donors.
Ransom enjoys solid union support with $78,027.32 coming from labor groups. Elliott has received no union donations.
The 54,000-member strong Northern California chapter of the Service Employees Union 1021 is by far the largest single donor to the campaign in either camp. They have donated $54,539.32 to Ransom’s campaign with $38,539.32 in the form of in-kind services including $15,000 in consulting services, $10,000 for polling, and the rest - except for $452 for phone banks - going for in-kind printing. The rest was in the form of $15,500 in cash donations.
Elliott’s largest contribution is $5,000 from farmer Karnail Sandhu in two separate donations.
The two were the highest vote getters in the June primary to set up the face-off in the Nov. 6 election to replace termed out District 5 Supervisor Leroy Ornellas.
Both candidates reside in Tracy.
Ransom is emphasizing her desire - and ability - to problem solve as the backbone of her strategy for help in governing the county. She believes her background running a non-profit has helped her search for innovative ways to “do more with less” while she training and volunteer effort as a family mediator with the San Joaquin County Mediation Center will enable her to bring opposing sides together to find workable solutions for the county’s challenges.
Ransom is currently the vice chairman for the Tracy Planning Commission, is a member of the Tracy Unified School District Anti-Bullying Committee, an ambassador for the League of Women Voters, and chair of Delta Academy youth mentoring programs.
She is a former member and vice forewoman of the county’s Civil Grand Jury During her stint on the grand jury she helped expose hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasteful spending and improve government transparency and responsiveness.
Elliott believes “we can grow our way out of a recession” and that “we don’t need the government to bail us out and put us even deeper into debt.” He plans to work toward that by trying to reduce government regulation and scrutinize spending even more.
Elliott serves on the Tracy City Council. He is a retired United States Army Colonel and Special Forces soldier with 30 years of military experience, Elliott was deployed on diplomatic assignments during his Army tenure to United States embassies in Tokyo and Seoul. He got his education at West Point and has had a successful career in nuclear energy with both General Electric and his current employer, Westinghouse.
