Cearnal raised $116,789.39 between late March and late April, according to her campaign finance report. Most of that money came from two donors.
John Moritz donated a total of $50,000 to Cearnal’s campaign, half on March 29 and half April 12. The address for Moritz listed on Cearnal’s campaign finance report is for Dollar Car Sales, a used car dealership in Arlington.
Gerald H. Stool also donated a total of $50,000 to the campaign on March 31 and April 17. Stool is the founding principal of Dallas-based real estate firm Alamo Manhattan, according to his LinkedIn page. Cearnal is also a Realtor. She owns Front Real Estate Co. and works as a broker.
Cearnal was behind incumbent Mayor Jim Ross in her previous campaign finance report. She raised $9,283.46 from mid-February to the end of March. Ross raised $91,160 from the beginning of January to late March.
But the $100,000 from Moritz and Stool puts Cearnal ahead of Ross in fundraising for the last stretch of the campaign – Ross raised $39,319 between late March and the end of April.
Cearnal filed for a place on the ballot on the last day of filing when she saw Ross was about to run for reelection uncontested.
“We just feel like that’s never the best thing for all of us, that we need to make sure that we’re always keeping government in check and making sure that everything is running as smoothly as it can,” she said in a previous interview with KERA. “I wanted to just come in and be a part of the race and show a different alternative.”
KERA’s Kailey Broussard contributed reporting.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For Americacorps member for KERA News.
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