Real estate interests continue to pour money into the Berkeley election, with the latest contribution this year nearing $20,000.
Filed on Tuesday, the political action committee of the National Association of Realtors has now donated more than$111,600 to four candidates — Berkeley mayoral candidate Laurie Capitelli, City Council District 6 candidate Susan Wengraf, District 5 candidate Stephen Murphy and District 2 candidate Darryl Moore.
The real estate group based out of Chicago spent about $10,800 for Capitelli, $2,500 for Wengraf, $3,100 for Murphy and $2,700 for Moore to purchase online ads Monday.
Support for Capitelli alone from the real estate group this year has topped $71,200.
While the city caps direct campaign contributions to candidates at $250, independent expenditures — which can support candidates but not donate directly to their campaigns — are exempt from this cap.
Capitelli, who currently serves as a City Council member, is a long time member of the real estate community. He has spent most of his adult life as a real estate broker, and he is a partner of Red Oak Realty for almost a decade.