As Turlock mayoral candidates enter the final countdown to the election, their last minute campaigning has paid off in donations. As of Friday, Gary Soiseth is leading in campaign contributions with $55,479, while Mike Brem is reporting a total of $49,902. These donations are a far cry from Mayor John Lazar's unopposed race in 2010, when he raised just over $3,300, but still less than Lazar's 2006 fundraising efforts that netted over $63,000.

Soiseth has received a lot of support from the agricultural industry, which is no surprise as he is a third-generation farmer, regulatory administrator for the Modesto Irrigation District, and former senior agricultural advisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service. Major ag business contributors include: Vierra Dairy Farms ($3,000), MID public affairs specialist Melissa Williams ($1,500), Sebastian Cipponeri of Cipponeri Farms ($1,500), local dairyman Mark Ahlem ($1,500), Alamo Farms ($1,000) and Central Ag Products ($600).

Two of Soiseth's largest business contributors were Prospector, LLC ($3,000), partially owned by Matt Swanson, and Associated Feed ($3,000),  which Swanson is president. Developer Mark Hall contributed $1,500  to Soiseth's campaign and his business, Monte Vista Crossings, gave $3,000. Eric and Rebecca Gonsalves of Brownstone Equities also gave Soiseth $3,000.

Former Turlock Mayor Curt Andre and his wife donated $1,500 to Soiseth and former Turlock City Council member Kurt Spycher and his wife gave $250.

Other major contributors to Soiseth for Mayor include: David Young and Corrine Young of Young Veterinary Service each gave $1,500; Torre Reich Construction ($1,500); and Ryan Martel, Legislative assistant to the U.S. Senate ($1,500).

While Brem is trailing Soiseth in contributions by about $5,500, he has received quite a few large donations from local realtors, business owners — and the ag industry. Significant ag contributions include: S. H. Smith Farms ($2,000), Albert Mendes Dairy ($1,000), Ahlem Farms Partnership ($1,000), Charles Ahlem ($1,000) and Tell Dairy ($500).

Brem's largest contributors, however, are the company he brought to Turlock, SupHerb Farms with $5,000, and SupHerb's parent company Daregal, Inc., also with a $5,000 donation.

Brem is also being supported by longtime Turlock businesses and business owners like Smith Chevrolet Cadillac ($2,000) and Alan Marchant and Lee Marchant, of Turlock Recycling, who gave $1,000 each.

Other large contributors include: local realtor and developer Jim Theis ($1,000), Turlock Action for Business- Political Action Committee ($1,000), Thomas Sperry ($1,000), Scott McDonald financial advisor ($1,000), and local Certified Public Accountant Pardeep Sahota ($1,000). Brem also received a $500 donation from utility company PG&E and $400 from local home builder JKB Development.

Along with fundraising efforts, Brem put in $4,000 of his own money for the campaign and Soiseth took out a $5,000 loan. The campaign contributions listed above are what the candidates reported receiving as of Oct. 18.  Donations given to local campaigns in California from Oct. 19 through Dec. 31 are not due to be reported until Feb. 2.

The City of Turlock has no limit on campaign contributions, but both candidates put their own caps on donations. Soiseth said he would not accept more than $1,500 from any single person or more than $3,000 from one business. Brem said that after his campaign was launched with his own funds and donations from SupHerb and Daregal, he put a limited of $2,000 on contributions from any one person or business.