With loans, Bui leads money race

Phat Bui, councilmember from the Garden Grove City Council District 4 and challenger for the mayor spot, has a large fund-raising lead over incumbent mayor Steve Jones in the Nov. 3 election.

However, most of the money he’s raised is in the form of loans to himself in the sum of  $118,968.53 from his business, Net Results.

According to campaign contribution statements filed with the city clerk’s office, Bui has raised $148,940 – including his loans to himself – for his mayoral campaign and spent $27,849.18, in the latest filings. That leaves him with $56,429.82 in cash on hand.

Jones, Garden Grove’s mayor since 2016, has raised $22,495 in the most recent reporting period, and spent $14,162.70. He has no declared debt. Combined with money raised earlier, he has $53,993.27 in cash on hand.

The other two mayoral candidates  – Don Taylor and Duy Nguyen – have not reported any contributions or expenditures.

Leading contributors to the Bui campaign of $1000 or more are:

• Westfield Construction and Development (Garden Grove): $1,500.
• Garden Grove Police Officers Assn. PAC (Garden Grove) $2,500.
• Orange County Professional Firefighters Assn. PAC (Tustin): $2,500.
• Garden Grove Hotel (Gretna, La.): $2,000.
• Christian Luong (Garden Grove): $2,000.
• Danny Nguyen (Westminster): $1,000.
• Oc and Lau (Garden Grove): $1,000.
• Quan Gio Inc (Garden Grove): $2,000.
• FV Slater Project LLC (Santa Ana): $2,000.
• 9702 Chapman Corporation (Garden Grove): $3,000.
• Seven Seas (Garden Grove): $2000.

Leading contributors to the Jones campaign of $1000 or more are:

• Rexford Industrial (Los Angeles): $1,000.
• California Real Estate PAC (Los Angeles): $5,000.
• VDC Red Hill Holdings (Los Angeles): $1,200.
• Doug Ly (Fountain Valley): $5,000.
• Quang Ly (Newport Coast): $5,000.
• Garden Grove Police Officers Assn. PAC (Garden Grove): $2,500.

The Tribune will be reporting on campaign contributions for municipal elections in Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster through the election periods. We will start with mayoral races and then move to council elections. The term “PAC” refers to political action committee. Non-monetary contributions are not included.